IKEA's story: leading by design
When Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA in 1943, he didn’t sell furniture. He sold a variety of goods, including wallets and jewelry. Yet, IKEA became a worldwide success at selling simple, inexpensive assemble-it-yourself furniture through a series of shrewd distribution and positioning moves on Kamprad’s part. Read More.
LEADERSHIP TIP
Think Small. Journalist Joseph T. Hallinan suggests in his book Why We Make Mistakes that one way to
enhance the quality of decisions is to "think small." Identify the consequences of small errors and take steps to correct them. Example: Some 7,000 people die each year from doctors' sloppy handwriting interpreted inaccurately. Just a bit of work to enhance legibility saves lives—at very small cost.
FEATURES
Scott Eblin
The Next Level
How to Lead Massive Change: An Interview with Lockheed Martin CIO Sondra Barbour
Sondra Barbour is the chief information officer and senior vice president of enterprise business services at Lockheed Martin. She’s a company veteran and change leader who has taken on increasingly responsible positions over the course of her career.
Best of the Blogs
Best of the Blogs
Teach, don't tell
The very definition of “lead” begins with “show the way.” So why do so many leaders tell, rather than teach?
Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School
Negotiation Coach
Learning from failure
Q. I think of myself as a good negotiator. I look for ways to expand the pie, and I deal well with different bargaining styles. So I was shocked when a longtime customer chose another provider ... Fortunately, I’ve had a good year otherwise, but I still don’t know what I did wrong. I’m wondering what I can learn from this failure.
Marie McIntyre, Ph.D.
Ask the Coach
Sharing your knowledge of the job with a former employer
Question: I keep getting calls from my former employer about how to do my old job. For 24 years, I was the “go-to girl” who held that company together. When the business was sold several months ago, I was let go along with many others.
Now I feel that I am being used. If they can’t figure out how to do my work, then they never should have fired me. However, I may need a recommendation from this employer during my job search, so I’m not sure how to handle this. Should I continue to answer their questions?
Sports fans: Let the customers decide
Comedian Drew Carey, part owner of the Seattle Sounders soccer team, has a novel idea: Let fans vote on management. He got the idea from Spanish teams whose fans vote on key members of the club’s front office.
Google VP tells how to avoid burnout
“I have a theory that burnout is about resentment,” Google VP Marissa Mayer says. “And you beat it by knowing what it is you’re giving up that makes you resentful. I tell people: Find your rhythm."
Is there a Jeremy Lin on your bench?
The talent of Jeremy Lin may seem patently clear now. But when Lin was just out of college, no NBA general manager or coach saw his potential. Why didn’t anyone have an inkling of what Lin could do? Stereotypes.
In praise of stand-up meetings
Nothing conveys urgency and efficiency like being on your feet during a daily meeting. Stanford Business School professor Bob Sutton observed this as he was co-writing the management book Hard Facts, along with Jeff Pfeffer.
