culture Archives

Develop Culture Sensing Skills and Take the Blinders Off Of Your Career

One of my greatest career misfires was accepting a role in a firm where I had failed to properly assess the culture. I was blinded by the allure of this successful and global firm and by the sharp people that I met during the interview process. I can think of few skills more important for professionals, product and project managers and other lateral leaders to develop than culture sensing. All of the functional or vocational expertise in the world is for naught if the individual fails to take into account and leverage cultural idiosyncrasies to achieve results and drive performance improvements.

By Art Petty|2016-10-22T17:12:11-05:00April 3rd, 2009|Career, Leadership, Product Management, Project Management|4 Comments

Teaching a Senior Team To Dance With Leadership Development

There is no silver bullet for creating an effective leadership culture, but there is a straightforward formula: focus, time and discipline. And of course, practice, practice and more practice. How well does your senior team dance when it comes to leadership development?

By Art Petty|2016-10-22T17:12:23-05:00July 9th, 2008|Leadership|2 Comments

Tuning In to Leadership (and much more) With A Great New Book

Tuned In presents a six-step process for creating a resonator: "a product or service that so perfectly solves problems for buyers that it sells itself." The examples, approaches and ideas for realizing resonators and for supporting the creation of an organizational culture that institutionalizes the requisite thinking and processes are the heart of the work. The steps: find unresolved problems, understand buyer personas, quantify the impact, create breakthrough experiences, articulate powerful ideas and establish authentic connections offer powerful and practical guidance for marketers and executives everywhere.

By Art Petty|2016-10-22T17:12:24-05:00June 9th, 2008|Leadership|3 Comments

How Healthy is Your Leadership Culture? Rate It Yourself and See or, “Rate it and Weep”

Chances are if you are like most of the business professionals that take the 10 question Leadership Culture Index below, your organization can use some improvement. A lot of improvement.

By Art Petty|2016-10-22T17:12:25-05:00May 17th, 2008|Leadership|0 Comments

Values-Based Leadership: More of What I Learned at Matsushita

I reflected on the Basic Business Principles as the values are known at Matsushita, when I co-authored the Values for a future employer, and I reflect and draw upon them regularly as I teach sections on Values-Focused Leadership in workshops and classrooms. A typical session will end with a majority of participants highlighting how they never understood until now how powerful the corporate values could be in strengthening their culture, driving performance and guiding behavior. This is a valuable lesson to learn for all of us.

By Art Petty|2016-10-22T17:12:25-05:00May 11th, 2008|Leadership|2 Comments

Three Simple, Low Cost Ideas to Help Jump-Start Leadership Development

Jump-starting a leadership development activity does not require a tremendous investment in program development, outside consultants or big company meetings. Sometimes the best results come from simple approaches, and anything that gets people talking about the right issues can serve as a starting-point. The key point is for you to do something. Any or all of these three simple ideas can get you started.

By Art Petty|2016-10-22T17:12:25-05:00May 7th, 2008|Leadership|1 Comment

Leader: Are Your Meetings Straight Out of A Dilbert Comic Strip?

My observation is that only a minority of leaders (managers, supervisors, executives, project managers) understand how to properly prepare a team for and run an effective, purposeful and productive meeting. Ironically, look at the Outlook calendars of most people operating inside corporate walls, and their schedules are filled with one meeting after another. With all of these unproductive meetings to attend, who has time to work?

By Art Petty|2016-10-22T17:12:26-05:00April 16th, 2008|Leadership|0 Comments

Read Any Good Cultures Lately? Honing an Essential Career Skill.

Every organization has a distinct culture defined by its history, norms, values, and behaviors, and every team in an organization develops its own subculture. Learning to read a culture and adapt your style to fit (or at least complement it) is essential to success regardless of your level or role. It's also something that can be honed as a skill through increased awareness and consistent application of a few basic approaches.

By Art Petty|2016-10-22T17:12:27-05:00April 9th, 2008|Leadership, Product Management, Project Management|0 Comments

How do Ideas Turn Into Actions in Your Firm? Hint: Check Your Leadership Culture

As a leader, you should be critically concerned about where ideas come from and how they go from insights to actions. This process of value creation is fundamental to a firm's growth and at its core it is a very organic process.

By Art Petty|2016-10-22T17:12:27-05:00March 27th, 2008|Leadership, Product Management|0 Comments

Would You Work for This Character?

"The only way that you will succeed on my team is if you are married to the job!" "The reason that I am not in any family vacation pictures is because I'm on the phone. If I'm in the picture, I have a blackberry stuck to my ear." Yeesh. What a jerk! The quotes speak volumes about this individual's leadership style, priorities and character. A "my way or the highway" approach, coupled with an "I will succeed on the backs of your labor and you will help me succeed or else," philosophy. It also speaks volumes about the culture in the organization that tolerates this leader's style.

By Art Petty|2016-10-22T17:12:28-05:00February 19th, 2008|Leadership|1 Comment

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