People Management

Insist on clarity

Conversations around your conference table may not be clear. PowerPoints may elicit blank stares every time but never change. Bottom line: Make yourself understood.

Playbook of a basketball king

You don’t win, as a coach, more men’s college basketball games than any other coach, without being a phenomenal leader. Duke University coach Mike Krzyzewski is a leader who happens to coach basketball ...

Walmart's CEO, manager at heart

Walmart CEO Mike Duke "is not only a good leader but a really good manager,” says Duke’s predecessor, Lee Scott, who moved Duke into various parts of the business before handing over the reins in 2009.

Trumpet progress only if it is real

If your company isn’t actually achieving and making progress, don’t send out a broadcast that claims otherwise. Employees will see straight through it.

Let the music play

Pandora, the free Internet radio that plays music specifically suited to your taste, continues to grow like a weed, with practically every metric skyrocketing. Pandora founder Tim Westergren says, "When you’re a small company, what you lack in scale you have to make up for by being a step ahead of the competition. Innovation is an absolute cornerstone of our company."

How are your 'Mutual Fun' shares doing?

Rite-Solutions has created an internal stock market for employee ideas called Mutual Fun. Employees get $10,000 worth of “opinion money” on their first day, so they can show support for an idea by buying the stock. Later they’ll share in the proceeds if a project delivers real-world revenue.

Put oomph back into workplace awards

Every year, employees at SurePayroll anx­­iously await for leadership to an­­nounce who won the Best New Mistake award. Yes, the biggest mistake. Is your awards program a creaky tra­­dition or an injection of excitement? In­­vigorate your thinking with this advice:

Kenny Chesney's inner CEO

Country music singer-songwriter Kenny Chesney has 120 employees on the road with him every day, so he can’t afford to fool around. On managing: He says, “I’m not that great with confrontation. But once I started to be OK with that, the better everybody’s life got ... If you don’t clear the air, with that many people together on the road, it can be just a mess. I think it’s helped me as a person."

Put feedback loops to work

Through a stream of information and re­­wards, feedback loops—already common in executive coaching and athletics—can turn around bad habits and redirect people toward good ones.

Praise in a way that counts

Don’t wait until it’s time for a formal review to dish out the positive words. Six guidelines for effective praising, from Bob Nelson, author of 1001 Ways to Reward Employees:

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