leadership

Lead With A Story: Book Review

October 12, 2012

Tweet I’m suspicious of the idea that people who want to be leaders should tell more stories.   While I get the arguments that stories are persuasive because they are emotional, have a predictable arc that makes it easy for people to get engaged with them, are easy to remember, etc. etc. I’ve sometimes wondered whether using […]

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What Women Want from Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg

February 7, 2012

Tweet Facebook has a gender problem. We want Sheryl Sandberg to fix it. Facebook has had a gender problem since its beginning. Now, with the publicity around Facebook’s upcoming IPO, business analysts, portfolio managers, potential investors, and feminist businesspeople are calling attention to the most glaring symptom of Facebook’s gender problem: Facebook has only white […]

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Connecting to the Company Story: Coding is Crafting for Etsy’s Engineers

November 21, 2011

Tweet Every organization has a story. Any group that wants to be an important part of that organization needs to craft a place for itself in that story. The story an organization tells itself and shares with others helps everyone make sense of who the organization is. For members, the organization’s story helps them articulate […]

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Pay Attention to How Social Media Communities Create ‘the Organization’

September 20, 2011

Tweet Why do so many social business advocates overlook the organizational value of online communities? Too many people dismiss online communities for not being central to the organizations they serve.  These critics dismiss communities for being merely social, just another way to chat or swap tips. Even when they acknowledge how communities can be critical […]

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7 Reasons To ReThink Social Scoring Inside Social Organizations– before it’s too late

April 25, 2011

Tweet “Manager A’s results with the department’s implementation of Program X were outstanding, but her internal Klout score is only a 43. Given her low influence score, it looks like she’s not as good a leader as Manager B. I know that Manager B has been with us only two years, and hasn’t yet finished […]

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Insights about Authenticity from the Open Community Book Tour

December 22, 2010

Tweet I’m taking part in the virtual book tour and are doing to explore concepts from . Maddie and Lindy, along with their colleague Jamie Notter, have long been some of my favorite bloggers. “Even though” they write about communications strategies, and focus on a very specific type of organization (associations), their ideas are big, […]

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Is your organization flourishing or withering?

September 22, 2010

Tweet Organizations are organic things — they are born, they die, they suffer and they thrive. But very few organizations flourish. Organizations that flourish are rare creatures. We find them where business goals are tied to larger purpose, where larger purpose is linked to community needs, and where individuals’ authentic selves are nourished by and […]

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Girl Scouts Rebrand Their Cookies: “Every Cookie Has A Mission”

February 18, 2010

Tweet The Girl Scouts have been busy with their organizational re-branding efforts. With the start of the 2010 Cookie Season, they have a new branding campaign specifically designed to make Girl Scout cookies meaningful. Back when I wrote the post Wal-Mart Knocks Off the Girl Scouts, about Walmart entering into competition with the Girls Scouts […]

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Finding a Leadership Opportunity in Alternatives to Layoffs

March 16, 2009

Tweet Let’s say you’ve been convinced by the argument against layoffs and the recommendations for trying alternatives to layoffs. You’ve looked at a few of the Honor Roll organizations and decided to take that next step… As you prepare to act, consider this additional option. Can you find a way to make alternatives into layoffs […]

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What’s Better Than Branding the Organization with the CEO?

December 9, 2008

Tweet Graeme Martin , Director of the Centre for Reputation Management through People at the University of Glasgow, has written an interesting post on his blog, about the Dangers of Branding Leaders . Writing about the practice of creating an organization’s brand / identity from the celebrity personality of the CEO as a strategy for […]

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