Future of Work Briefs

When an executive challenged trainees to design a cost-saving strategy, one young woman proposed that the company install software that puts a computer into sleep mode after a period of inactivity. The trainee, who didn’t have a college degree, saved the firm hundreds of thousands of dollars.

73% of CEOs reported being concerned about the availability of key skills. So how can companies compete effectively in this new war for talent? First and foremost, it’s time for leaders to focus on strengthening their organizations’ employer brands.

In the early 1980s, Ralph Stayer sent a long memo and a $200 check to every employee of his family business. Since taking over as CEO, sales had increased fifteen-fold. Profits were up 150%. Everything, he had resolved, had to change.

Gates, upon meeting Buffett for the first time (at what one can only assume was a powerhouse gathering), didn’t indulge in an exchange on boardroom topics, but instead, rather tellingly, inquired as to Buffett’s favorite business book. Buffett answered John Brooks’ Business Adventures.

Zuckerberg kicked off his A Year of Books project with Moisés Naím’s The End of Power: From Boardrooms to Battlefields and Churches to States, Why Being In Charge Isn’t What It Used to Be. The reason for this choice?

Last month, a California jury ruled in favor of a leading venture capital firm, rejecting a female employee’s claims of sex-based discrimination. While in the end, the firm’s actions were not deemed illegal, these distractions spawned the daily release of details through headlines.

As leaders, we can learn a lot about messages and how to package and use them effectively from politics. In The Political Brain, Drew Westen takes us on a journey through some of the most significant political campaigns of recent decades, and dissect why some have worked while others have failed.

It’s harder and, yet perhaps more critical, in today’s world of instantaneous communications that enterprise leaders more generally assess the business and reputational risk of other leader misdeeds, including those which may not directly violate regulatory prohibitions.

Decision-making power resides with a much smaller group, who form what you might call the CEO’s inner cabinet. Members of this elite club wield a disproportionate amount of influence, which is why most executives want to join.