Best-Practices Leadership

Leadership Tips: Vol. 613

June 12, 2013
Hold on to ownership mentality … Always watch as you listen … Be aware that you can be too attractive.

Bell Labs innovator connected us all

June 5, 2013
Bell Labs was among the most innovative scientific organizations of the 20th century. The man at the helm was Mervin Kelly, a physicist who led the laboratory. Follow his lead for inventing the future.

Weed out requests with a ‘twitpitch’

May 17, 2013
Executives are now asking people who want something from them—from job candidates to vendors and suppliers seeking business—to summarize their pitch in the form of a tweet, or “twitpitch.” There are many ways you can apply this technique.

Leadership Tips: Vol. 413

April 4, 2013
Sweat it like the co-founder of ZipCar … Imagine it like a Nobel Prize winner … Say bye-bye to spam.

Spur groups to debate each other

March 29, 2013

In the 1920s, Alfred Sloan ran General Motors. When he convened his management team to explore whether to open a plant abroad, they all approved the move. Sloan replied that he wouldn’t make a decision until he heard some disagreement. He wanted the best judgments to flow from clashing viewpoints.

Kodak goes picture perfect with service

March 28, 2013

When Jeffrey Hayzlett took over as Kodak’s chief marketing officer, he didn’t know much about the founding father of the company, George Eastman. What he learned gradually, by raiding the archives and reading everything that Eastman had written, was that Eastman had been a change agent.

Hannah Jones rewrites the book at Nike

March 7, 2013

Nike once found itself in a defensive position, scrutinized for social injustices. By 2011, though, it had completely turned things around, receiving top recognition for sustainability reporting. Stewarding the company through its global sustainability strategies is ­Hannah Jones.

Leadership Tips: Vol. 313

March 5, 2013

Hire people smarter than you are … Get over yourself, like Neil Armstrong did … Retire somewhere that won’t drain your nest egg.


How P&G opened its doors to innovation

February 27, 2013
For generations, Procter & Gamble innovated from within. The giant consumer products company that makes Tide detergent and Crest toothpaste conducted research-and-development veiled in secrecy. Under A.J. Lafley, P&G’s now-retired CEO, the company’s closed innovation process began to open up.

Get your leadership tools digitized

February 22, 2013

You’ve heard about the new generation of “digital natives”—young people born after 1989 who know only a digital world. For the rest of us, the lesson is clear: We need to become digital leaders.