Even though Brad Smith, CEO of Intuit, oversees a workforce of about 8,000 people, he spurs innovation by getting out of the way. Rather than micromanage, he prods employees to think like entrepreneurs launching a business.
Leaders & Managers
From the nitty gritty of daily management to addressing your aspirations of leadership, this section for leaders & managers tells you how to make strong leadership decisions, build effective teams, delegate and stay above the everyday management muddle.
Get tips, strategies, tool and advice on: performance reviews, preventing workplace violence, best-practices leadership, team building, leadership skills, people management and management training.
Arnold Hiatt was visiting Hong Kong in 1990 when he noticed a child wearing an unusual shoe. It closed with Velcro and had a loop on the back, allowing the child to pull it on easily. Within months, Hiatt’s Massachusetts company, Stride Rite, produced a similar model. Lesson: Watch and listen.
HR Law 101: Employers have an obligation to provide a safe work environment for their employees. Those that don’t will pay a heavy price. Their workers’ compensation and other liability insurance costs will rise, workers may sue, and OSHA may impose heavy fines.
The power of why is what carries you and your team through the grueling, mundane and laborious donkey work of accomplishing your mission. Here’s a metaphor to bring it home.
You give instructions, but people don’t follow your lead. The solution is to prepare so that you provide supportive, timely coaching. Follow these five steps to pave the way for effective coaching.
For Daniel Vasella, chairman of Novartis, success comes with self-awareness. He finds that effective leaders possess four strengths.
To create a more collaborative culture, CEO Gregg Steinhafel encourages Target's 365,000 employees to harness social media. The retail giant has developed an internal online platform that enables workers at all levels to post comments, share ideas and engage in Facebook-like interaction with each other.
For a glimpse of how to put inventions into action, check out Clarence Birdseye, the guy who enabled us to eat vegetables from a freezer instead of a can.
You cannot demand that people own their jobs. Instead, you must provide a link between individual effort and a greater good. Here’s how to maximize your team’s ownership.
Rob Eberle, president and chief executive of Bottomline Technologies, cites three things as his primary roles as CEO: bring in new talent, help his people get better each year and listen to them. "The technology today won’t be the technology tomorrow," he says. "It’s the people that matter most."
