Human Capital Briefs
2014
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Family Businesses Shouldn’t Hunt for Superstar CEOs
January 17 | Rob Lachenauer, CEO and a Co-Founder, Banyan Family Business Advisors | Comments (0)It’s a dilemma that faces family businesses all too frequently. We saw it recently when we worked with a $4 billion global manufacturing business in Hong Kong. The company was managed by the founder, who turned it over to his son when he retired.
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Find Your Inner Mandela: A Tribute and Call to Action
January 17 | Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Professor, Harvard Business School | Comments (0)Don’t just mourn Nelson Mandela. Learn to be Nelson Mandela. He was the consummate turnaround leader. As the first democratically-elected president of post-apartheid South Africa, he took on and reversed the destructive symptoms of decline.
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Research: Recession Grads May Wind Up Happier in the Long Run
January 15 | Emily C. Bianchi, Assistant Professor, Emory University’s Goizueta Business School | Comments (0)Soon after the class of 2009 collected their degrees, they stepped into the worst job market in a generation. Hiring for new college graduates had dropped 35 to 40 percent in only a year. Hiring for new PhDs, lawyers, architects, and journalists had plummeted as well.
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Ten Essential Tips for Hiring Your Next CEO
January 15 | Ram Charan, D.B.A., Business Author and Advisor | Dennis Carey, Vice Chairman, Korn/Ferry International | Michael Useem, William and Jacalyn Egan Professor of Management, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania | Comments (0)Selecting a new chief executive is critical because so much rides on a positive outcome. Is this the right person to lead the company in this particular business, at this particular time? Will he or she collaborate with the board, or fight it?
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This Is What It Looks Like When a Google Manager Gets Feedback
January 15 | David A. Garvin, C. Roland Christensen Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School | Comments (0)Using a rigorous, data-driven hiring process, Google goes to great lengths to attract young, ambitious self-starters and original thinkers. It screens candidates’ résumés for markers that indicate potential to excel there — especially general cognitive ability.
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CEOs Should Get Out of the Saddle Before They’re Pushed Out
January 08 | Michael Jarrett, Senior Affiliate Professor in organizational behavior, INSEAD | Comments (0)When is the best time for a CEO to leave the top spot? I can’t help but think of the Mel Brooks film Blazing Saddles — a satirical comedy of what happens when a new sheriff comes to town. In those days, it usually meant the old sheriff failed or was fired – or worse!
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Accelerating Change at Microsoft
January 03 | John Kotter, Author, Our Iceberg is Melting: Leading Change , Kotter International | Comments (0)A recent Wall Street Journal article quotes Steve Ballmer as saying: “the best way for Microsoft to enter a new era is with a new leader who will accelerate change.” Amen to that. Since I didn’t load up on Microsoft stock when Mr. Ballmer took the reins, I have no personal peeve against him.
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The CEO Who Led a Turnaround Wearing a Helmet
January 03 | Robert Sutton, Professor, Stanford Engineering School | Comments (0)One of the key lessons that Huggy Rao and I learned from studying scaling up excellence is that, to spread new ways of thinking and acting, just talking about the importance of new beliefs and behaviors isn’t enough. You need to live the mindset that you aim to instill in others.
