When It’s Time to Pivot, What’s Your Story? (HBR)
Research shows that new ventures that reinvent their businesses—even multiple times—cut their chances of failure by conserving resources while continuing to learn more about customers, business partners, and new technologies. But pivots can incur a penalty if they’re not correctly managed. The companies that are likely to endure will be those that nimbly adapt—and can effectively get stakeholders on board with change. Learn about a sequence of stratagems critical to establishing and maintaining stakeholder support during major reboots.
Good Leadership Hinges on “Organizational Intelligence” (HBR)
It takes a lot to get to the top of an organization: a high IQ, emotional intelligence, technical competence, and a variety of personal characteristics, such as fortitude and resilience. Even with those qualities, many leaders fail at the top job — often because they don’t know how to get the organization to do what they want. What they lack is organizational intelligence. OQ, as we’ll call it, consists of five competencies: sending messages that reinforce strategy, fostering an ethos, using “action strategy,” rebelling from the top, and staging moments of theater. Let’s look at each, drawing on examples from our own experience and that of well-known successful leaders.
4 things your company can do now to be ready for the future of work (Fast Company)
Great Storytelling Connects Employees to Their Work (HBR)
What kind of storytelling is relevant and most effective during times of flux, upheaval and uncertainty? How can companies make teams feel empowered, positive, connected… so they can continue to give customers the quality interactions they’ve come to expect? When so much has changed and templates for how we do business are being redefined daily, great storytelling connects employees to their work. In every organization where there is a strong sense of moral motivation, leaders are always storytellers. So, it’s worth figuring out how to make an impact doing this well, and training our communications, marketing and sales teams to have alignment here. The stories we tell ourselves and each other will shape the way companies fare in the coming weeks and months, especially during the pandemic. How will your company do?