What do Philadelphia’s mayoral candidates plan to do about crime? Their approaches run the gamut and lack detail. I have yet to hear the approach that all candidates should pursue—benchmark other cities that have had success in reducing crime. The future livability of our city depends on it.
The Philadelphia Eagles are in the Super Bowl for one simple reason — they hired the right people
What lessons for all organizations does the Eagles’ success demonstrate? Jim Collins in his iconic leadership book “Good to Great” was right when he wrote, “[Get] the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off the bus).” Hire the right people. You won’t regret the money you spend to do so. Paraphrasing Collins, the right people will take your organization someplace great.
Build competitive advantage through a culture of continuous improvement
If you are looking for a sustainable initiative to build competitive advantage, look no further than the culture of continuous improvement. Companies that do not continually improve will fall behind. Those that do continuously improve will win the competitive race in the long run.
Are Elon Musk and Steve Jobs good examples on how to lead?
Musk and Jobs can be described as visionaries. I doubt that the leaders reporting to them would tolerate working for an autocrat and being micromanaged if, unlike Tesla and Apple, the company lacked the ‘cool factor” and didn’t produce inspiring widgets that change the world. Musk and Jobs are outliers—they are unique. Learn from and emulate them, without adopting the negative aspects of their leadership styles.
George Santos should be held to the highest standards of ethics and integrity
All lawmakers must be held to the highest standards of ethics and integrity. I like the standard to which Warren Buffett held the employees of Salomon Brothers when he served as interim CEO: “Lose money for the firm, and I will be understanding. Lose a shred of reputation for the firm, and I will be ruthless.”
Southwest Airlines meltdown is a lesson in mission critical failure
The Southwest Airlines meltdown is a lesson for all organizations. Determine what is mission critical and pursue a strategy to ensure that the mission can be fulfilled regardless of external adverse factors. Do you know what is mission critical for your company and can the mission still be fulfilled when events go south?
What Coach Ted Lasso can teach us about leadership
“Be someone that people want to follow,” and lead in a way that “makes everyone on your team feel like they matter.” The leadership philosophy and principles practiced by Coach Ted Lasso are universal. They transcend professions. Follow them and you will be successful leading your organization.
Achieve success by following these ‘first principles’ of leadership
The first two principles of effective leadership: Be someone people want to follow. Lead in a way that makes everyone on your team feel like they matter. As we enter 2023, we should all be guided by what I identify as “first principles” of leadership. Unfortunately, many leaders in business, nonprofits and politics miss the mark.
FTX: Latest example of auditor failing as financial guardians
Audit firms are the guardians that protect the investing public and those who rely on companies’ financial statements. It is imperative they have the capability to audit those companies and maintain their independence, especially when the fees received are a significant portion of the audit partner’s and audit firm’s income. They need to fire their client if they uncover a pattern of fraudulent practices.
Where will Elon Musk-owned Twitter draw the line between free speech and hate speech?
Advertisers want to protect their brand. Companies are loath to advertise on a social media platform that allows posts which are baseless conspiracy theories or stir up discord, hatred and violence. They don’t want to be associated with hate speech posted on Twitter under the guise of free speech.
Does your company have too many chiefs?
When I see staff organization titles like chief knowledge officer, chief visioning officer, chief sustainability officer, chief strategy officer and chief innovation officer, I wonder why these areas aren’t the responsibility of existing positions within the company. I also wonder about the lack of ownership by the line organization of the initiatives developed by staff “chiefs.”
Philadelphia is welcoming busloads of asylum seekers, but Biden must act
Disbursing asylum seekers to a wide range of cities rather than having them remain in detention centers or funneling them into just a few cities will lessen the burden on any one state or city, especially those along our southern border. Biden also needs to do his job and implement a strategy to defend our southern border.