google-isn-8217-t-looking-for-stanford-and-mit-grads-it-8217-s-looking-for-this- The prototypical Silicon Valley star is perceived as a genius from Stanford, MIT, or Harvard who's technically brilliant, inspires with vision, and carries the day. It even used to seem impossible to get a job at Google if you weren't a Stanford or MIT grad. As recently as 2012, even if you'd been out of college for 10 years, they would still ask you for your college GPA and what you made on the SAT in high school. Yet that's not at all what Google has discovered are the most important qualities. The prototype is completely wrong. The most important character trait of a leader isn't where she went to school or her IQ. Google People Operations' Data-Driven Decision-making Google is famous for being one of the most data-driven companies in the world--even in the area of HR, where decisions in other companies are still made largely based on gut. By taking an evidence-based approach rather than a gut-driven one, Google has been able to debunk conventional wisdom on how to build an A team.
Favorites of 2012: On being wrong about business talks Business talks are boring. Among all the things I was certain of when I started writing for TED, that one was near the top of the list, just under ‘ice is cold’ and ‘brains are gooey.’ I worked as a physicist for a few years before switching over to writing (with a short jaunt in between in comedy), so just never cared much for business. My time as a scientist was spent doing research, talking to people about research, lecturing about research, annoying family members by going on and on about research and, very occasionally, sleeping. My time as a writer is spent doing the dishes as a way of procrastinating. Neither lends itself to thinking about the problems of organizing a corporation, crafting an advertising message or thinking about work/life balance. At TED, I was hired to write about the science talks, and it was wonderful. As I watched more talks, though, one theme started to emerge that I fell in love with — the idea of being wrong.
The Philosophy of Motivation Peter Drucker, the legendary management theorist, told us that we have to “accept the fact that we have to treat almost anybody as a volunteer.” In other words, we can’t just order people around and expect them to do what we want, we have to get them to want what we want. An entire industry of compensation consultants has emerged to answer that question, but nevertheless most employees feel unmotivated. Why is that? We need to drastically change how we think about incentives. A Failed Rational Model Traditionally, employment has been viewed economically. However, it should be clear that there is something wrong with that notion. When motivated people wake up in the morning, they don’t think, “I have to send this e-mail, so that I can earn a certain amount towards my rent, a fraction of my vacation time and a sliver of my health benefits. As I argued previously, the reliance on rational explanations for behavior reflects a failed philosophy from centuries past. The Importance of Dignity
8 Qualities That Make Great Bosses Unforgettable | Jeff H. The #1 Career Mistake Capable People Make To Give Your Employees Meaning, Start With Mission - Teresa Amabile and Steve Kramer - HBS Faculty by Teresa Amabile and Steve Kramer | 11:00 AM December 19, 2012 It is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work. -Jim Collins Do you feel that you have work worth doing? Must it be this way? Why is meaning so important? Unfortunately, too many companies don’t even try to make work meaningful for the people doing it. The Company’s primary objective is to maximize long-term stockholder value, while adhering to the laws of the jurisdictions in which it operates and at all times observing the highest ethical standards.Dean Foods Company Mike Brenner and Steve Van Valin, of the consulting firm Culturology, talk about sources of “meaning amplification” that managers can tap in their quest to sustain employee engagement. To accomplish this, leaders have two tasks. Our mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit — one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.Starbucks Coffee
Servant Leadership Takeuchi and Nonaka have written an article on Leadership in the Harvard Business Review. The latest issue. Since they are the godfathers of Scrum, one feels compelled to discuss leadership in the context of Scrum. First. we must note this is a big topic, and with somewhat different issues depending on the size of the firm. Within the context of Scrum, let's over-simplify and consider leadership at three levels. Within the team. We find that the most important thing that a team does is create knowledge. We find that power and knowledge creation do not go well together. And the innovation, the new new product, must be not only clearly new, but also relevant to the customers. So, inventing a new product is somewhat like magic. So, perhaps you can see now why power and creativity do not work well together. Leadership and power are not the same thing. The Product Owner and the ScrumMaster are often thought to be leadership roles. Let us stop for today on this difficult and interesting topic.
7 Qualities Of Uber-Productive People Some people get more done than others--a lot more. Sure, they work hard. And they work smart. But they possess other qualities that make a major impact on their performance. They do the work in spite of disapproval or ridicule. Work too hard, strive too hard, appear to be too ambitious, try to stand out from the crowd. Pleasing the (average-performing) crowd is something remarkably productive people don't worry about. They hear the criticism, they take the potshots, they endure the laughter or derision or even hostility--and they keep on measuring themselves and their efforts by their own standards. And, in the process, they achieve what they want to achieve. They see fear the same way other people view lunch. One of my clients is an outstanding--and outstandingly successful--comic. Yet he still has panic attacks before he walks onstage. He's still scared. Anyone hoping to achieve great things gets nervous. They can still do their best on their worst day. Most people wait for an idea.
Dan Pink Servant leadership Servant leadership is both a leadership philosophy and set of leadership practices. Traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the “top of the pyramid.” By comparison, the servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible. History before Robert Greenleaf[edit] Servant leadership is an ancient philosophy - one that existed long before Robert Greenleaf coined the phrase in modern times. The highest type of ruler is one of whose existence the people are barely aware. Chanakya wrote, in the 4th century BCE, in his book Arthashastra: "the king [leader] shall consider as good, not what pleases himself but what pleases his subjects [followers]" "the king [leader] is a paid servant and enjoys the resources of the state together with the people." Servant leadership can be found in many religious texts, though the philosophy itself transcends any particular religious tradition.
I’m Not a Servant - I’m a Host! A New Metaphor for Leadership in Agile? What does it mean being a leader? And what does it mean being a leader in an agile context? This fundamental question is being continuously asked by many people and in various settings: from the small startup to the big organization we are all trying to understand how to implement a sound leadership model. In fact leadership is highly contextual and very much connected to the interpersonal skills of the individuals, so a “model” of a leader that tells you how to act in such a role will anyway be limited. Metaphors in leadership are not new. Servant Leadership: a good idea with limitations In Scrum we say that ScrumMasters and Product Owners are Servant Leaders: but... what does that really mean? This is, in fact, one of the questions I get asked most in my consulting work. Back to the past: where does the term servant leadership come from? Figure 1: Leadership metaphors - from Hero to Servant However in my opinion it has some limitations: As a servant I have no power. A. B. C. D. 6 J.