Strategy
Q-and-A: Miki Agrawal on why entrepreneurs should take action
Miki Agrawal has launched multiple businesses, is an angel investor and also the author of “Do Cool Sh*t,” being published this week by HarperBusiness...
Strategy
Strategy
21st-century leadership learnings from 2,500 years ago
Diversity is finally getting beyond discussions of race and gender to include experiences, talents, and ways of thinking. I’d like to add another type...
Strategy
Due diligence in cross-border mergers: Navigating different cultures
Another article on mergers and acquisitions? And cross-border deals at that! Why bother, given that so much literature has been published on cross-border M&A,...
Strategy
Does your company invite innovation?
Exploring in-sites — Places that invite innovation Innovative organizations are gerunds, not nouns. When one says, “I’m going for a run,” it has a...
Strategy
Brainstorming sessions: Don’t be afraid to judge
Brainstorming sessions are supposed to be a low-pressure, welcoming environment, right? That’s what managers have been told for decades. Employees involved in these sessions...
Strategy
What I learned about management while directing traffic
Recently, we attended a Washington Nationals baseball game. 40,000 people in the stadium, most leaving at the same time. It was an oppressively hot...
Strategy
Swiffer gets in “touch”
This book excerpt is from “Loveworks” by Brian Sheehan, published by powerHouse Books. Sheehan is associate professor of advertising at the S.I. Newhouse School...
Strategy
Creative leadership
I recently had the chance to talk to a very successful leader about what he thought was the foundational driver of his success. Of...
Strategy
The “new” rules for leaders
The following excerpt is reprinted by permission from the publisher, Jossey-Bass, a Wiley brand, from “The Necessity of Strangers” by Alan Gregerman. Copyright (c)...
Strategy
What we’re reading: Outside the box of leadership edition
We read a lot of articles to winnow down each business day’s SmartBrief on Leadership newsletter. That means hard choices, and sometimes intriguing, excellent...
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Is your company willing to be challenged?
Ask yourself, where might your business need challenge and restoration the most?
Strategy
Getting to meetings that matter: A Q-and-A with “Will There Be Donuts?” author David Pearl
David Pearl is the author of “Will there be Donuts? Better Business One Meeting at a Time” (published in the U.S. by HarperCollins, October...
Strategy
What’s the Intent of your meeting?
This post is an excerpt from” Will there be Donuts? Better Business One Meeting at a Time” (published in the U.S. by HarperCollins, October...
Strategy
The Middle East’s entrepreneurial promise
The Middle East seems to the casual observer to always be in crisis, and even more so in recent months (and years) in places...
Strategy
Why Western companies should look at Latin America — a Q-and-A with SABMiller Latin America’s Karl Lippert
Today, emerging markets are leading the global economy. China and India attract most Western attention. But growing domestic demand and unique human capital talent...
Strategy
The myths of creativity
David Burkus is the author of the new book “The Myths of Creativity: The Truth About How Innovative Companies and People Generate Great Ideas.”...
Strategy
For entrepreneurs, the idea’s but the first step of the journey
Credit: iStockphoto Want to come up with the next best business? Think about what frustrates you most and try to fix it. Often times,...
Strategy
How does work get done without managers?
Getting rid of managers seems like a drastic — and to some, very unwise — idea, but innovative companies like Valve and W.L. Gore...
Strategy
Q-and-A: Ex-Sears Canada CEO Mark Cohen on leadership in retail
Today, most consumer-driven companies are playing catchup in a rapidly changing world. We see mistakes made by their leaders and unexpected changes in companies’ strategic...
Strategy
Create your own reality distortion field
Back in 2006 when Apple was developing the iPhone, Steve Jobs decided that while the original plan was for the iPhone to have a...
Strategy
The dangers of automation: When to automate and when to be human
I love automation. I love the productivity it brings. I love working smarter, not harder. I even founded a company all about automation. However,...
Strategy
Tackling problems no one wants to touch
As the leader of your team you have many roles, including coach, referee, teacher and boss. Being comfortable in multiple hats is a cornerstone...
Strategy
Q-and-A: Ed Marx on innovation, industry changes and advice for CIOs
Ed Marx is the senior vice president and chief information officer at Texas Health Resources in Arlington, Texas. His career in the health care...
Strategy
Innovation: 3 ways companies do it wrong
Today, you’re either innovating or you’re falling behind. 97% of CEOs label innovation as a “top priority” for their company. The best companies are...
Strategy
8 benefits to being a socially responsible brand
Business leaders act, not react. By nature they are forward-thinking and innovative — a ballast on a ship. But never before has leadership been...
Strategy
“Flex”: How we (don’t) talk about difference
This post is an excerpt from “Flex: The New Playbook for Managing Across Differences,” (March 2014, HarperBusiness), by Jane Hyun and Audrey S. Lee....
Strategy
How to motivate your team to start thinking creatively
Famous artists like Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol often come to mind when we think of creativity. These innovators were famous...
Strategy
Making room for risk in high-performing companies
To drive innovation, you sometimes have to “break” to achieve your breakthrough. Tesla Motors is a perfect example of a company that disrupted its...
Strategy
Unleashing the improvement potential of front-line employees
From the time of Alexander the Great to the invention of the steam engine in the 18th century, there was almost no increase in...
Strategy
What is one app that has made you a more productive leader? Why?
The Young Entrepreneur Council is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC recently launched StartupCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that...
Strategy
Leading like an entrepreneur
How I envy the newborn entrepreneur. In the face of incredible odds and with little chance of survival they blindly press on with a...
Strategy
The principles of a dual operating system
This post is an excerpt from “John Kotter’s ACCELERATE: Building Strategic Agility for a Faster-Moving World” (Harvard Business Review Press, 2014), by John Kotter....
Strategy
Walk around your opponents
In addition to my role as CEO of Impact Strategies International LLC, I do some work with Babson College and serve part-time in its...
Strategy
How Ray Kroc’s values inspired success
#2696721 / gettyimages.com This post is part of the series “Workplace Morale,” a weeklong effort co-hosted by SmartBrief’s SmartBlog on Leadership and the folks...
Strategy
Is failure a luxury?
The importance of failure in innovation is all the buzz right now. Business modeling and lean startups are great ways to mitigate and manage...
Strategy
Q-and-A: Alibaba and the future of e-commerce in the U.S.
ChannelAdvisor co-founder and CEO Scot Wingo E-commerce is an industry that seems to be in a constant state of growth, with emerging technology and...
Strategy
Are employees sharing the common language of innovation?
At times, corporate communication can seem like learning how to shoot a bow and arrow. That’s not because you’re trying to take your competitors...
Strategy
Are you ready to be a social age leader?
Industrial Age leadership was good, or at least efficient. It enabled us to get the most out of every worker; expectations were set; consequences...
Strategy
Collaboration: It’s not what you think it is
“I’m going to begin to collaborate more with the stakeholders outside of my organization — clients, cross-functional partners and others.” I asked the leader...
Strategy
Inspiring creative thinking by debunking common myths
Creativity breeds fresh ideas, but the stigma that creativity is an indefinable and unattainable quality steers us toward old processes that yield predictable answers....
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Yes, you are creative — here’s how to find the spark
It still hurts to think about it. It was early in my career and I was facing a big challenge. How do we involve...
Strategy
5 critical elements of measured risk in innovation
I am continually amazed by people who take a vision and attempt to turn it into a business reality. Of course, this requires passion,...