Cultural Cohesion

Organizations need to think creatively when using technology to unlock new insights.

Trust, we instinctively realize, is a precious quality that binds relationships, and nowhere more so than in business ecosystems. It’s foundational, but also fragile because all the participants in an ecosystem must learn to work with, and rely on, each other, knowing that no external force compels them to do so. Mutual trust, as much as mutual interest, binds business ecosystems.

Lockdown hit many factories hard. Yet some P&G plants increased production with fewer staff, and actively helped their local communities.

With businesses navigating closures and safe reopenings, this year has forced business leaders to get creative. For many, this has meant modifying in-person interactions to accommodate safety guidelines, or otherwise moving these meetings to a digital platform.

A top down approach to building company culture no longer works for several reasons. For one, Covid-19 has upended how leaders interact with employees and how coworkers connect with each other. Next, company culture has grown in importance, thanks to recent high-profile crises at big name companies. A new culture-building approach is already in place at some organizations, one in which everyone in the organization is responsible for it.

COVID-19 is accelerating a shift to hybrid work models, which requires a fundamental change in the skills team leaders need to succeed.

Much of the fairness of a performance-management process rests on managers’ ability to coach effectively.

How you communicate determines how you lead.

COVID-19 is redefining the nature of employee autonomy.

Research shows that a solid majority of knowledge workers want flexible work arrangements after the pandemic. Company leaders face the challenge of reimagining their culture for a world where rituals and ceremonies enacted in the office are inaccessible.

How leaders can create the psychological safety for people to constantly rethink what’s possible.

The ability to bounce back from setbacks is often described as the difference between successful and unsuccessful people. Resilience has been shown to positively influence work satisfaction and engagement, as well as overall well-being, and can lower depression levels. New research shows that resilience is also heavily enabled by strong relationships and networks. We can nurture and build our resilience through a wide variety of interactions with people in our personal and professional lives.

A forensic interviewer explains that micromanagers are often leaders who fear they’ve lost control of their workers, so they double down.

A leadership coach examines some radically forward-thinking practices that can be applied to our current work.

Most managers don’t relish giving their employees negative feedback, but a remote environment can make the conversation even harder.

The current environment, where political divides and social movements permeate workplace interactions and many employees are working remotely, can create ideal conditions for entrenchment to take hold. To prevent or fight against these divisions, leaders first have to understand the divisive forces at play. 

What makes a good leader? That’s a big question if there ever was one. After overcoming my trepidation, I reflected on what I’d observed and learned over the years and gave it my best go at FAM. Here’s a more detailed version of my answer.