1: Imagine walking through a forest.  

“The diversity of trees you’ll see can be quite dazzling,” write McKinsey consultants Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra in CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest.  

“Douglas fir, white pine, Aspen, red maple, and oak soar toward the sky, each individually competing with the others for sunlight and space.”

Is this true? Actually … continue reading

1: Selecting the right people and putting them in the right roles is just the beginning of the CEO’s role in managing talent.

The best CEOs, write McKinsey consultants Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra in their book CEO Excellence, make a considerable investment of time and energy “into coaching, retaining talent, managing performance, and planning for succession for the most valuable roles.”

These leaders become … continue reading

1: “Most CEOs have a ‘top talent’ list that can be counted in the single digits,” Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra write in CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest.

“CEOs can entrust them to do things that others can’t,” they write. “These stars sit on just about every standing committee and act as sponsors for most task forces … continue reading

1: “Who are your top twenty most talented leaders?” 

That was the question McKinsey consultants Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra asked the CEO of an average-performing healthcare company. 

The CEO shared his list.

Next, they asked: “What are the twenty most important roles in the company?” 

Once again, he shared his list, but “with a speed that suggested he hadn’t given that answer nearly as much … continue reading

1: Author Fred Kofman was leading a leadership seminar at a chemical company.

“I love molecules!” Boris (not his real name) exclaimed with humorous exasperation.   “Molecules are so well behaved. You apply a certain amount of heat and a certain amount of pressure to them, and you know exactly what they are going to do.” 

Everyone laughed.  

“The problem,” he went on, “is that I did so well managing molecules … continue reading

1: McKinsey consultants asked a CEO how much time he spent managing other people’s egos. 

Probably 20 to 30 percent of the time, he answered.

Then, they asked him what percent of time people spent managing his ego.

Silence.  

“Beyond the anecdote,” Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra write in CEO Excellence, “the research is clear: When CEOs are asked if they act as a … continue reading

1: The bad news?

“Once a CEO sets a direction for the company’s future, the probability that the plan will become reality is low,” Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra write in CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest.

“Many studies, including our own research,” the authors note, “conclude that only one in three strategies is successfully implemented.”

2: What’s … continue reading

1: We are finishing up another school year.

As parent-managers, we want our children to do their schoolwork before they play.  So, we try to motivate them. 

“I incentivize them by threatening to take away their iPhones if I see them using them before their work is done,” Fred Kofman writes in The Meaning Revolution: The Power of Transcendent Leadership.

“I add a carrot to the stick, promising that … continue reading

1: “Top people go where the standards are the highest,” business philosopher Jim Rohn would say.

If we want to attract and keep people, “treat them like a crack team, with clear standards and disciplines that we insist on every single day,” writes Brian Tracy in his book Sales Management, “The very best salespeople perform at the highest levels when they are working in a tightly organized, well-disciplined sales … continue reading

1: Imagine it’s 9:30 am on a Wednesday morning. We are sitting at our desk. We receive an email from a colleague: “The waves are good!”

We stop what we are doing. We close our laptop. We stand up. We go change into our surfing gear. And we run to the beach.

This happens regularly at the outdoor retailer Patagonia, where the corporate headquarters sits on the Pacific Ocean, and … continue reading