Dr. Al Vicere had an outstanding webinar last week. And the dialogue with Howard Morgan was fascinating. (We’re planning to post some of those questions and answers in weeks to come.)
If you missed this valuable event, or would like to listen to it again, you can still register for a streaming feed of the recording.
Al’s presentation began with a discussion of the incredible amount of societal change and economic pressure we’re encountering today. Socially, we’ve entered an era of frugality. Households, governments, and organizations are spending less. The US share of GDP is going to fall in the future. All of this has tremendous implications for business.
At most organizations, leaders are tightening the belts, focusing on efficiency, trying to stabilize during terrible conditions, and also, preparing for the upswing to come.
For leaders, it can be incredibly difficult to straddle those two directions at once. A theme emerged, one that would be emphasized over the next 90 minutes.
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The May 2009 edition of Harvard Business Review includes an article on, “The Definitive Guide to Recruiting in Good Times and Bad.” The authors point out that during a downturn smart and able companies prepare a hiring strategy to anticipate the needs of the future. Most other companies don’t:
History will again repeat itself. Even now, before the recession lifts, our research suggests that most global companies are running into staffing problems in emerging markets, and they are also having a difficult time finding talented younger managers to replace baby boom retirees. These problems will be made all the worse because, we’ve found, current hiring practices are haphazard at best and ineffective at worst. And even when companies find the right people, they have difficulty retaining them.
Bev Kaye’s webinar on May 20 focuses on the bottom-line reasons for keeping your best people engaged now, during the downturn, or risk losing them later.
Finally, a note on the possible pandemic emerging from Mexico. Like the 2008-2009 financial crisis, environmental concerns, and the SARS epidemic of 2002, we now have another illustration of the reality of globalization. The suddenness of the impact on financial, trade, and tourism markets is startling. Upcoming presenter, FG Ghadar includes “disease” as one of the 12 categories he discusses in his book, “Global Tectonics.”
You can read a great review in the Wall Street Journal of the book, The Industrial Revolutionaries by Gavin Weightman. The author makes the case that the practical applications of innovations – and the systems that underly their successful deployment – are what really changes our lives, not the innovations themselves. For example, telegraph lines existed before Samuel Morse, but it was Morse’s telegraph system and his famous code that made long-distance communication indispensable for businesses. Similarly, it was Trevithwick’s steam locomotive that enabled steam power to change economics and society.
Peter Drucker made similar points about the Internet. The internet, he wrote, is our steam engine. But internet commerce, or the “buy-button” as Lou Gerstner once put it, is our steam locomotive. Think of how our buying and business habits have changed with the widespread emergence of digital commerce.
Al Vicere, our June presenter, has a similar view of the economic shifts we’re experiencing now. According to Dr. Vicere, the information age is finally upon us. The economic crisis of 2008-2009 is hastening the demise of many traditional economic institutions and organizations, and what emerges on the other side will feel a lot more like the promises we’ve been led to expect for some time now.
Last week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton received some grief in Russia for a mistranslation of the word “reset” on a button she used as a symbolic prop. But these days, a reset button sounds like a good idea to us.
On Monday, Jim Kouzes will be speaking about leadership and where 25 years of research bring him to today. The need for leadership is never more obvious than in a crisis. Many organizations are stressed by circumstances right now. Managers, executives, and leaders at all levels need to be inspiring, effective, and, above all, credible.
We invite you to start the week with a master-class on leadership insight, research and inspiration. In the leadership development and executive coaching field, there are few experts with the knowledge and wisdom of Jim Kouzes.
Here’s a little history of that research for your interest. Join us on Monday to hear how the story has evolved.
Earlier today, Unbound Ideas hosted two top voices in the leadership and coaching industry. Dr. Marshall Goldsmith presented a webinar entitled Preparing Your Successor and Yourself for a Great Future. We were fortunate to have Howard Morgan act as the facilitator to coax additional insights from Marshall and add his own wisdom.
During this 90 minute event, which included some really interesting and thoughtful questions from our participants, we learned that there are concrete steps that any leader can undertake in order to have the transition of responsibilities go smoothly for the organization and the well-being of all parties involved. Marshall described the key findings revealed through his extensive research and engagement in succession planning with top executives from some of the world’s largest organizations. He illustrated some of the traps that these leaders often fall into as the reins are turned over. Importantly, he also described the hazards that successors face as they prepare for or anticipate an eventual transition. Continue reading » »
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