Corporate Culture

The Telecommuting Challenge

Wrede, KW Corporate Culture, Leadership, Leadership Development, Organizational Culture , ,

Telecommuting isn’t a new topic. Under the right conditions theZenith Space Command Remote (00)re are many advantages for both employees and employers.

At both ends of the spectrum there are jobs that are impossible for telecommuting (i.e.: manufacturing) and there are jobs that are perfect (i.e.: some accounting tasks). We find the challenges in that grey blob in the middle. Those challenges can be our opportunities.

My good friend Rajesh Singh started a recent thread on LinkedIn asking about telecommuting.
(Read the full thread here.)

But, as I read the comments, I realized that as is often the case the question frames certain assumptions and we don’t think through the “real” problem. Continue reading →

The Critical Obstacle to Innovation

Wrede, KW Corporate Culture, Innovation, Intellectual property, Organizational Culture, Turnaround Management

Everyone agrees that innovation is the magical key to the future, a strategic activity that cannot be ignored.

A major topic of CEOs and MBA programs world-wide.

The biggest obstacle to innovation in any organization has absolutely nothing to do with innovation.

The biggest obstacle is that very few organizations create the strategic group culture needed to nurture innovation.

You may find a Senior VP for other “strategic” areas (think finance, marketing, operations, and even human resources), but you rarely have a SVP for innovation (or for that matter, leadership).
If the CEO does not take a personal hand in proactively promoting an environment for innovation, it just becomes an annoying buzz word that will be addressed “sometime in the future.”

(Thanks to Rajesh Singh, Vice President – L&H Products Strategy & Ops at Swiss Re5d, for posing an interesting question.)

Leaders and managers, the important difference

Wrede, KW Corporate Culture, Leadership, Leadership Development, Leadership Principles, Organization Development, Organizational Culture, Uncategorized , , ,

There is a huge difference between leaders and managers.
Never sell managers short, they are the stewards of resources.
Their problems will cost you money

Leaders are the stewards of culture.
If the organizational culture is toxic, it is the fault of the leaders.
Their problems will cost you your whole organization.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Endgameleadership.com

Ken Wrede

Kenneth W. Wrede

Suncoast Business Leaders Leadership Panel

Wrede, KW Corporate Culture, Leadership, Leadership Development, Leadership Principles, Organization Development, Uncategorized , , , ,

This is just a quick note to thank Laurie MacDonald from MacDonaldConsultants for hosting a wonderful leadership panel on 18 May at the Centre Club Tampa sponsored by The Suncoast Business Leaders organization.

Continue reading →

How to Screw-up Leadership Development

Wrede, KW Corporate Culture, Leadership, Leadership Development, Organization Development, Organizational Culture, Uncategorized , , , , , ,

microphone (1) graphic pen

<tap> <tap>

CEOs

<tap> <tap>

Are you out there?  Anybody?

<tap> <tap>

COOs?

CFOs?

<tap> <tap>

Is this thing on?

I really want to be that motivator guy.  You know, the guy that runs around and pumps everyone up.  I want to throw those pithy motivational quotes that seem deep and meaningful, but also contradict each other.  I’d sound really wise and clever.  I wouldn’t give actionable advice, but that’s OK since I couldn’t be held accountable.

<sigh>

I can’t be that guy, at least not this time.  Stick with the evidence because the numbers don’t lie.

I hate to do it, but I have to throw statistics at you…

  • In 2012 US companies spent $14 billion on leadership development.
  • In a 2014 benchmark study from Development Dimensions International, corporate leaders and HR professionals were asked to judge the overall quality of their organization’s leadership.
    • 40% of leaders judged the quality as high.
    • 25% of HR judged the quality as high.

If you accept the judgement of the people responsible, then between 60% and 70% of $14 billion is wasted.

In my opinion… you C-suite people are the problem. Continue reading →

I was Interview by Jonathan Pritchard (ALWD)

Wrede, KW Cognition, Corporate Culture, Critical Thinking, Leadership, Leadership Principles, Leadership through uncertainty, Organization Development, Organizational Culture , , , , ,

ALWD 008: Leadership Interview with Ken Wrede

I had a podcast interview with Jonathan Pritchard over at A Life Well Designed. Jonathan uses design principles to analyze challenges in life and business, then applies design techniques to find elegant, effective solutions.
(For some reason I had a tough time enunciating, but I hope the messages were clear.)

I enjoyed the interview immensely, thanks Jonathan!

EOM,

Kenneth Wrede

(http://www.alifewelldesigned.com/podcast/alwd-008-leadership-with-ken-wrede/)

Cooperation over Compliance

Wrede, KW Corporate Culture, Leadership, Leadership Development, Organizational Culture, Policy, Uncategorized , ,

Cooperation vs ComplianceWhen you are in a position of authority, what is the best use of your time?  How do you get more leadership bang for the buck?

One of my leadership principles is to create a healthy organizational culture.  I think the best way to convey the message is to cultivate cooperation from people instead of enforcing compliance. Continue reading →

Leadership is Like Being a Good Host

Wrede, KW Business, Corporate Culture, Leadership, Leadership Development, Organizational Culture , ,

Welcome Mat (0)“But they are like family to me!”

You hear this phrase or something like it when people speak about their work relationships.  Hell, I’ve been guilty of saying it in one form or another.  It is sorta sad to think about it, but we often spend more time in the company of our colleagues than we do with our core nuclear family.

But is it really like that, are we really family?

Would we want to be family?

So we’re all one big happy family!  Now what?

Like the saying goes you can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family.  The implied premise is that your family has to claim you.  Thus, if we use the family paradigm, it hurts all the more when you have to, for professional reasons, reject an employee.

I think the best attitude to take with your employees is the same you might take if they were guest in your home.  Be their host.  (I don’t mean in a parasite/host relationship sorta way, I know some of you were thinking it.) Continue reading →