Leadership Theories

Why do business cards still exist?

May 29, 2015

You’ve probably asked yourself this question. Business cards have been around for at least 500 years, but the issue is why they persist in the digital age.

Practice the ‘5 zeros’

April 15, 2015

Here are “five zeros” that will simplify your work.

CEOs at big corporations often let their marketing managers make local sponsorship deals. A company might wind up supporting Little League teams, arts festivals and other community events. David D’Alessandro rejects that approach. When he was CEO of John Hancock Financial Services from 2000 to 2004, he adopted a “go big or go home” philosophy.

Keep score to drive peak performance

January 14, 2015

At a football game, fans check the scoreboard to see whether their favorite team is winning or losing. Do your employees have an equally easy way to keep score?

Plot your direction, make it clear, then go for it

December 3, 2014

Randall Hogan, chairman and chief executive of Pentair, says “thinking right to left” is a key to succeeding as CEO. He defines it as identifying where you are now as a starting point and then articulating a clear goal to reach a different point.

A banker’s unusual approach to analysis

November 3, 2014

Stephen Poloz runs the Bank of Canada, the nation’s central bank. As a central banker, Poloz scrutinizes economic models to predict movements in the global financial system. But Poloz doesn’t just rely on data that he gleans from his computer screen. In addition to scanning models, graphs and economic indicators, he also gathers evidence by interviewing actual people.

The power of contrarian thinking

July 16, 2014

In 1962, editors at the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists judged that the world was perilously close to a nuclear holocaust. It was at this moment that physicist Freeman Dyson, a visionary in math to medicine, weighed in on bomb shelters …

Get more miles from simple strategy

March 6, 2014

Bruce Halle’s competitors keep expanding their service and product offerings to capture a bigger chunk of car owners’ expenditures. Why does Halle resist? Because his strategy is to address what the consumer is actually buying.

Groups wield power at Whole Foods

February 20, 2014

For decades, management experts have praised Jack Welch as a model leader. The former CEO of General Electric was famous for firing the lowest-rated performers every year, causing employees to compete with each other to retain their jobs. John Mackey, co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, rejects that approach.

The flattened hierarchy lives

January 22, 2014

Eileen Fisher’s line of radically simple clothing has a pretty radical leadership structure.