Archives For Leadership

I honestly believe that in this day and age of information ubiquity and nanosecond change, teamwork remains the one sustainable competitive advantage that has been largely untapped. I can say confidently that teamwork is almost always lacking within organizations that fail and often present within those that succeed.

Patrick Lencioni, Teamwork as a Competitive Advantage

The team with the best players usually does win – this is why you need to invest the majority of your time and energy in developing your people.

Jack Welch – The Best Teams, Winning

Evan Fry and Dan Swartz – Taken by Fast Company

“There is an art” writes Rae Ann Fera of Fast Company, “to getting the most out of your teams of creative professionals. When the job is to conjure the next brilliant idea out of thin air, against deadline, via a combination of inspiration, hard work, experience, intuition, and confidence, getting the best work out of creative people on a consistent and efficient basis can be tricky business.”

Fera outlines 10 tips that Evan Fry and Dave Swartz put into practice in their roles of managing creatives at Crispin Porter + Bogusky:

  1. Set the Bar
  2. Identify and Leverage Traits of Individuals
  3. Cater to Strengths
  4. Keep Your Hands Dirty
  5. Suggest–But Don’t Necessarily Impose–a Process
  6. Create Healthy Confusion
  7. Encourage Switching Off to Switch On
  8. Keep Them Reproducing
  9. Make Retention a Conscious Choice
  10. Know When To–And Be Able To–Speak The Tough Truth.

Our atmosphere today is a digital one. These are therefore helpful guidelines for any organization regardless of one’s industry.

Read the full article here.