The survival of many organizations depends on teams capable of engendering superior innovation in business processes. Successful teams always have two things in common. They are strongly committed to a shared purpose and specific performance goals.
Every great company is distinguished by special attitudes of its employees. For example, Microsoft, Southwest Airlines, Marriott and other leaders elicit superior commitment from their people, and use it to sustain innovation and overall excellence. Such companies have found that pride is more powerful than money. It is what motivates people to form emotional attachments. Intrinsic pride – the kind that comes from the emotional high of having done a job well – is the most lasting and powerful motivating force, especially at the front‐line of an organization. There are management approaches and disciplines that can create this kind of pride, and can be used to drive organizations to higher levels of performance. This article, by management thought leader Jon Katzenbach, formerly of McKinsey & Co. and now founder and senior partner of Katzenbach Partners LLC, provides a blueprint for how to make pride a strategic asset.
Making U Teams Work at the Top B Y J O N R. K A T Z E N B A C Host top executives pay lip service to their "team at the top" but achieve only a small portion of the actual team performance potential of the se-M nior leadership group. Others, who champion a team approach at all levels, become frustrated that they cannot run the company more as a team. Both extremes are missing the point: real team efforts at the top of large organizations have performance value o d y when applied to legitimate team opportunities.In other words, the senior leadership group (that is, all the CEO's lrect reports) need not try to become a real team. As obvious as this may seem, few senior leadership groups are disciplined about when and how they pursue team opportunities. As a result, they struggle for team performance when it makes no sense, and m i s s opportunities for team performance when it offers high potential. This happens even in companies that have mastered the use of teams in other parts of the organization.The reasons are simple to describe but &fficult to overcome. Shortfalls in team potential occur when leadership groups Do not appreciate the discipline of teams and the performance potential teams can offer-even at the top Do not differentiate between-nor make an explicit distinction in how they pursue-team and nonteam opportunities Depend upon crisis-type events to trigger team behavior Rely exclusively on the familiar discipline of executive leadership, whch conflicts with-and typically overpowers-the discipline required for team performance Regularly overlook new options for team composition, modes of behavior, and leadership roles they can play to build real teams in the right places 32 1,eader to Leader
A s companies facing the current economic downturn launch cost reduction initiatives, many will ignore the need to secure employee commitment when making cost cuts, which is one of the reasons why only 10 percent of companies sustain cost reductions after three years[1]. Specifically, it is critical that companies planning cost reduction initiatives obtain both the positive emotional support of their employees and their commitment to behavior change that reduces costs. A workforce that is actively involved in the initiative and understands the need to make tough decisions can reduce costs more and sustain the reductions longer.
Head count reduction, downsizing, and the elimination of middle management jobs—“Is that all there is?” To many middle managers, Peggy Lee's classic ballad rings painfully true today. The good news is that a growing number of folks‐in‐the‐middle are defying that image and making a big difference in the growth and performance of their colleagues and their companies. We call them Real Change Leaders (RCLs), and you can learn a lot from them.
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