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Category Archives: Leadership
Three Leadership Lessons from Ron Johnson’s Debacle at J.C. Penney
Monday’s dismissal of J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson comes as no surprise. In late 2011, J.C. Penney had hired Ron Johnson from Apple to revive the sagging fortunes of the storied retailer. He was deemed as a retailing genius who … Continue reading
Leadership: Stay out of the kitchen if you can’t handle the heat
Not everybody is prepared to endure the demanding responsibilities of a leadership role: It’s tough to challenge status quo and to pilot your organization forward into unfamiliar territory It’s tough to be long-term oriented and to propose transformative ideas that … Continue reading
The Duplicity of Corporate Diversity Initiatives
Even after years of diversity initiatives in corporate America, “inclusion” is more about meeting the numbers on gender, race, and other obvious differences, and less about pursuing intellectual, ideological, pedagogical, and stylistic diversity within teams and organizations. Overall, the workforce … Continue reading
Posted in Leadership, The Successful Manager
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Performance appraisal systems don’t “meet expectations”
Across the corporate world, the annual performance appraisal system has been reduced to a perfunctory exercise to “do what HR needs and check-the-box,” and produce paperwork to weed out the laggards and reduce liability against discrimination lawsuits. So much so … Continue reading
Why Mergers Tend to Fail
Many corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&As) fail to realize their wished-for synergies, and eventually fall short of producing value to the stakeholders. Some years ago, a KPMG survey estimated that 83 percent of all mergers fail to create value and … Continue reading
Posted in Leadership, The Successful Manager
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Crises call for constant, candid communication
As the current crises at Toyota and BP highlight, how you respond to a problem or crisis is the ultimate test of your leadership character. Knowing how to step up your communications efforts to the right levels during disorder can … Continue reading
Posted in Effective Communication, Leadership
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Measuring Leadership Performance in Context
In this article from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, US presidential historian Richard Norton Smith offers ten guidelines to evaluate presidents. These guidelines apply to assessing leadership performance as well. History’s take on presidential performance is subject to … Continue reading
Posted in Leadership
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