Boards

  • Three “Protect and Correct” Leader Priorities

    Year Two of the coronavirus pandemic sees uneven and fragile economic recovery in the United States and broader global community.  While Chief Executive Magazine recently reported US CEO confidence in future business conditions at a two-year high, leaders in both profit and mission-based organizations continue to face daunting fiscal and operational challenges.  

    In this Reset 2021 article I will address three priority areas that leaders and the boards that oversee them are talking about now and that require ongoing “protect and correct” attention and action.   

    The three priority areas are Organizational Reputation, Human Capital and Cybersecurity. 

    Often discussed within the framework of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues and regulation, these areas are discrete but interlinking business dimensions that need to be high on the senior executive team’s 2021 “protect and correct” agenda.  Why?  Because the prolonged global socio-economic dislocations wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic, combined with a low trust stakeholder ecosystem, and disruptive, next generation digital technologies all contribute to heightened business and management risk.

  • Perils of the Productive Narcissist

    LEAD NOW -June 2013If you’ve been in the workplace for any period of time, you’ve probably encountered someone who fits the description of a Productive Narcissist. In fact, you might have even hired the person yourself, unaware that certain personality traits would turn your star performer into a costly management “black hole.”

  • Crisis Management: Five Winning Tactics

    Remember when electronics giant Samsung was in the headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2016?  Its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone overheated and caught fire, creating a safety hazard for owners. 

    After more than a month of product malfunctions, failed replacement phones, and furious customer complaints,  the U.S. Consumer Safety Board forced Samsung’s hand.  The Korean-based company announced a total product recall , killing production of the Note 7 altogether.  Samsung took a significant earnings hit that year.

    Cases like this remind us that leaders may need to react to any number of crises – man-made or natural – that deal with stakeholder or public safety and well-being.

    I addressed common reactions and behaviors to crisis that leaders need to avoid  in a previous post, Crisis Leadership: Five Deadly Leader Behaviors.

    If you find yourself in a major crisis situation, here’s what you need to do.

  • Toxic Certainty – When What You Know Isn’t So

    “It isn’t what we don’t know that gives us trouble, it’s what we know that ain’t so.”
    – Will Rogers

    Certainty is appealing and comforting. It makes us feel confident and powerful, especially in uncertain times. But it also has a dark side that I call “Toxic Certainty.”

    Toxic Certainty occurs when a person (or group) develops an unshakeable conviction in his/her interpretation of the facts and decision-making, and is immune to contradictory information.

    We see the negative effects of Toxic Certainty in political gridlock. We recognize it in religious extremism. But often Toxic Certainty goes unnoticed when it occurs at headquarters or in the boardroom. Unnoticed, that is, until disaster looms as a result of misguided thinking and actions.

  • Leader Imperative #5. The New Face of Risk Management: Are You Prepared?

    Meeting small_iStock_000009877513_OK“Mastering the New Normal” – A Continuing Series

    “A company’s ability to respond to an unplanned event, good or bad, is a prime indicator of its ability to compete.”
    – Bill Gates

    Our New Normal world involves a global business environment, dynamic markets and evolving strategic, technological and operational risks. Though different organizations have different priorities and issues, what are the key risks keeping leaders awake at night in 2014? A survey of almost 400 C-level executives recently published in Directorship* identified these key concerns: