What Makes a Good Entrepreneurial Leader? Ask Middle Managers
Entrepreneurs, as most people know, are risk-takers who thrive on uncertainty and change, always on the lookout for their next startup. But according to new research from Wharton management professor Ian C. MacMillan and co-author Vipin Gupta, entrepreneurs aren’t the only ones who should be able to operate in unpredictable, high-risk environments. Drawing on an extensive worldwide survey of middle managers, the two authors outline … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Source: “Knowledge@Wharton” | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Leadership
Leadership Is Confusing as Hell
“Think of pre-1990 as the Age of Sucking Up to the Hierarchy. The Age of the Promise ‘Em Everything Pitch lasted from 1995 to 2000. The next five years will be the Age of No-Bull Performance. Which means that we’re going to see leadership emerge as the most important element of business — the attribute that is highest in demand and shortest in supply. And … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Author: Tom Peters | Source: “Fast Company” | Subject: Leadership
The Perfect Vision Dr. V.
Inspiring article about Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy, who runs several eye hospitals that restore eyesite to about 180,000 Indians each year, 70% of whome receive the service for free.
Content: Article | Author: Harriet Rubin | Source: “Fast Company” | Subjects: Leadership, Social Responsibility (ESG)
The Two Faces of Leadership: Considering the Dark Side of Leader-Follower Dynamics
Leaders are not always benevolent; their intents not always benign. Followers are not necessarily passive and devoid of responsibility. History has taught us these lessons enough times – why then is popular management literature so full of inspirational transformational models of leadership?
Content: Article | Authors: Christine Clements, John B. Washbush | Source: “ManagementFirst” | Subject: Leadership
Four Power Plays
Robert Greene’s controversial book, “The 48 Laws of Power,” lays out a code of conduct that appears diametrically opposed to Fast Company’s principles and precepts for the new economy. Here, we pit Greene’s laws against Fast Company models and mentors. Whose power schemes make sense to you?
Content: Article | Authors: Anni Layne Rodgers, Robert Greene | Source: “Fast Company” | Subject: Leadership
Natural Leader
Rayona Sharpnack is a teacher and a mentor to some of the most powerful women in some of the most important companies around. Her message: Don’t worry so much about what you need to know. Instead, figure out who you need to be.
Content: Article | Author: Cheryl Dahle | Source: “Fast Company” | Subjects: Leadership, Women in Business
Are You Marked for Greatness?
Internet Capital Group has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in companies that are looking to make their mark in e-commerce. John Hamm evaluates and advises the entrepreneurs who run those companies. Here are the character traits that he looks for. Do you have what it takes?
Content: Article | Authors: Cheryl Dahle, John Hamm | Source: “Fast Company” | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Leadership
How Do We Break Out of the Box We’re Stuck In?
Donald Winkler is profoundly dyslexic. He is also a startlingly effective leader at one of the world’s biggest companies. The two are related. He sees the world in ways that we can’t or won’t. Read about his ideas on “breakthrough leadership” and his 10 principles for effective leadership.
Content: Article | Author: Keith H. Hammonds | Source: “Fast Company” | Subjects: Leadership, People
Company Builder
Atiq Raza was in position to become CEO of one of Silicon Valley’s old-guard giants. But he left to create Raza Foundries, a company that helps build other companies. Just don’t call it an incubator.
Includes a sidebar of three leadership lessons learned by proteges of Atiq Raza: never take a dollar at face value; deal with the customers who count; and focus on the … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Author: Bill Breen | Source: “Fast Company” | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Leadership
Knowing How to Grow: The Next Step for Bigstep.com
Bigstep.com founder Andrew Beebe recently handed over the reins of his young company to a more experienced CEO. Here are his five tips to step down gracefully — without stepping out.
Content: Article | Author: John Hoult | Source: “Fast Company” | Subjects: Leadership, People
Dick Vermeil: Leadership Through the Eyes of a Football Coach
Former football coach Dick Vermeil is now working with Safeguard Scientifics and Bridge Tech Partners on a $150 million venture capital fund that will support women and minority-owned firms in the technology, media and communications areas. But his ideas about leadership are based on a career in which he led two different teams to the Superbowl two decades apart. Vermeil shared his thoughts on being … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Source: “Knowledge@Wharton” | Subject: Leadership
Practical Radicals
You know the sort: They operate deep within big companies, well beneath the cultural radar, and are practically invisible to the top brass. Employing many different styles and strategies, typically waging small battles rather than epic wars, they work slowly to change the rules.
Content: Article | Author: Keith Hammonds | Source: “Fast Company” | Subjects: Change Management, Leadership
Leadership in a Complex Environment
excerpts from Chapter 10 of the book, ‘Shaping the Adaptive Organization: Landscapes, Learning and Leadership in Volatile Times’ offers 10 activities that leaders of organizations can emphasize to help shape a coherent environment that can handle constant and significant change and thereby achieve breakthroughs.
Content: Article | Author: William E. Fulmer | Source: “CIO Magazine” | Subjects: Change Management, Leadership
A Few Good Principles: What the Marines Can Teach Silicon Valley
The author of “Corps Business: The 30 Management Principles of the US Marines,” offers four strategies used by the Marines that can help new economy executives
Content: Article | Author: David H. Freedman | Source: “Forbes” | Subject: Leadership
Leadership as an Institutional Trait
Discusses results of study conducted by the World Economic Forum and Booz-Allen & Hamilton analyzing leadership as an institutional capacity, not solely a personality trait of individuals. Primary conclusion: CEOs of enduring companies use effective communications and enabling management systems to create organizational alignment around business objectives, while encouraging adaptability in the face of discontinuous threats or opportunities. Alignment and adaptability create the environmental conditions … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Source: “strategy+business” | Subject: Leadership
What Does it Take to Lead an E-Commerce Venture?
Trying to lead fast-growing organizations in volatile, uncertain markets poses a significant leadership challenge-and requires executives with unusual-even paradoxical-qualities. Example: Such leaders must be highly confident and self-assertive while also being open and flexible enough to be team-builders. What other skills do leaders of e-commerce ventures need? What kind of culture should they build for their organizations? A session at a recent meeting of the … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Source: “Knowledge@Wharton” | Subjects: IT / Technology / E-Business, Leadership
Character and Caring: Business Lessons from Three Military Officers
Three former military officers recently spoke about how their experience in the armed services prepared them for their present roles in corporate America. Their fundamental message: Character counts; leadership means caring for your troops; and those who accept the status quo will probably die.
Content: Article | Source: “Knowledge@Wharton” | Subject: Leadership
How to Change the World
Authors talk about need for today’s CEOs to be extraordinary leaders who can change the world. The companies that successfully changed the world according to authors’ study of 55 industries, excelled in strategic learning. Companies can learn faster by employing three strategic learning disciplines: knowing where you are, sensing opportunities, and analyzing bets.
Content: Article | Authors: Charles E. Lucier, Jan Torsilieri | Source: “strategy+business” | Subjects: Leadership, Management
21st-Century Leadership: Redefining Management Education
Companies need new techniques to train their professionals for the challenges of the 21st century. It takes more than schoolwork.
Content: Article | Authors: Mark David Nevins, Stephen A. Stumpf | Source: “strategy+business” | Subjects: Education, Leadership
The High Price Companies Pay for Mediocre Managers
overview of bestseller, First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently, w/ main contention that hiring decisions that focus mainly on pay and perks are misguided; one mediocre manager can wreak havoc in even the best company
Content: Article | Source: “Knowledge@Wharton” | Subject: Leadership