In A CEO for All Seasons, four Senior Partners at McKinsey & Company offer a compact, insight-packed guide to navigating the distinct phases of leadership that every CEO must pass through on their way to mastery. In this article, they focus on the first 100 days.
James Patterson is the bestselling writer in the world. Before that, he was the CEO of the country’s leading advertising agency. To reach each of those lofty positions, he had to disrupt everything. Now, he has co-authored a book that will help you do the same.
An entire industry has emerged around employee engagement, but the statistics measuring it have remained low—and stubbornly steady. Mark C. Crowley suggests it's time to try a new approach in The Power of Employee Well-Being.
It is expensive to be a woman, and—as Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman details in her new book The Double Tax—the costs are often much higher for women of color, especially Black women. The gaps in job opportunities, salaries, housing costs, childcare access, and generational wealth are dramatic. The problem is even more personal when it comes to appearance, as race-based hair discrimination remains common in both schools and workplaces. That financial and psychological costs remain high, but solutions are available.
Rick Tucci believes that, as technology reshapes our organizations, "leaders are being handed an unprecedented opportunity: the chance to redeploy time and talent on the front lines." For a real-world example of this, Tucci turns to his experience working with Steve Preston and the U.S. Small Business Administration in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The advice to keep our nose to the grindstone may not always result in our best, most creative, or most productive work. Creativity strategist Natalie Nixon offers a different model of productivity—one that encourages space and time to move, think, and rest—that allows individuals and organizations to flourish.
"I want to create music and experiences," writes musician and meditation teacher Born I, "for people to understand that it's okay to be exactly who you are. You are enough." His new book, Lyrical Dharma, is another experience he has created to do that work.
Juliet Schor has been researching companies implementing four-day workweeks since the beginning of 2022 and has testified before the US Senate on the topic. Here, she looks at the progress being made and whether the model can be applied more widely across all types of organizations.
We all have to deal with change at our jobs. Joel Zeff offers an actionable and improvisational way to embrace it.
"Hope is a strategy like no other," writes Jennifer Moss in her new book, Why Are We Here? As the world becomes more uncertain and anxiety-inducing, she urges leaders to treat hope as more than "merely and feel-good sentiment," and to be more deliberate about building it into their company culture. More importantly, she shows you how to do so in a scientifically backed and proactive way.
"Self-care" is a term with deep roots, one that once focused on the self-preservation of systematically oppressed people and communities. A multibillion-dollar wellness industry has taken the term and turned it into something we buy for ourselves. Award-winning journalist Amy Larocca explores the history of self-care and if the concept has become overly self-indulgent today.
As an aspiring entrepreneur, Neri Karra Sillaman ingested the classics of the business book genre for inspiration. As she built her family business, she found that many of the lessons they imparted weren't applicable to the context she was working in, and that the businesses they profiled were no longer succeeding. So she developed her own principles for business longevity, which she now shares with others as an Adjunct Professor and Entrepreneurship Expert at the University of Oxford, and in her new book, Pioneers.
If you find yourself confronting chaos, uncertainty, and existential questions on an almost daily basis, you are not alone—and you don't have to deal with it alone. Dr. Tasha Eurich highlights the critical role a connection to others plays in our wellbeing, and how prioritizing our own needs makes us better able to make those connections.
As the founder of Fair Trade USA, Paul Rice has helped build the conscious capitalism movement, although not without some setbacks. He shares a story about one of his greatest regrets, and how a failure to close a big deal became a valuable lesson about evolving ethical supply chains.
Workplaces are a leading cause of stress and burnout, but they don't have to be. Patricia Grabarek and Katina Sawyer share the evidence that leaders who focus on wellness boost productivity, engagement, employee retention, and the bottom line. They may even improve society.
They work full-time jobs and still can't afford to put a roof over their heads. Brian Goldstone highlights a mostly hidden, truly troubling new aspect of homelessness in America.
Artificial Intelligence is upending the workplace. While many fear its potential to replace us, there is also promise that it will add to our abilities. Rasmus Hougaard and Jacqueline Carter look at what qualities leaders need now and how AI can augment them.
We have constructed a complex and rich world in which to live, but it is balanced on the precipice of economic, ecological, and moral crises. Elina Teboul surveys the current state of the world and explains why we need a new generation of, and a new approach to, leadership.
Highlighting a troubling trend, Paula Davis writes that "Managers and leaders at all levels are burning out and leaving their jobs at an alarming rate." Davis's new book, Lead Well, focuses on the "we" aspects of leadership. This bonus chapter focuses on the "me" aspects—taking care of yourself so that you that you don't burn out and are able to continue showing up for and others.
Consumerism, misinformation, and groupthink make the digital spaces we spend so much of our time in more unhealthy for us, and our focus on individual responsibility over collective responsibility for these ills causes us to feel at fault. Mental health expert Petra Velzeboer helps us consider what a healthier relationship to technology might look like while prioritizing our individual wellbeing.
Creating organizational culture must be done deliberately, and with a set of principles in mind. Dave Durand suggests Aristotle's Transcendentals to build a business that provides "a service that goes above and beyond, and an organizational culture that inspires."
Reid Hoffman is deeply involved with the development of AI, but he knows that the best technology to help explain where it's going is a book, "in part as homage to the essential truth that technologies that often seem decidedly flawed and even dehumanizing at first usually end up being exactly the opposite." We have the Introduction to that book for you here.
In our hyper-partisan era, how can we form the consensus we need for our government to function well enough to meet the many crises and challenges we face? Former congressional staffer turned politics professor Casey Burgat looks to the farewell speeches of recent Senators for input and inspiration.
Defiance is risky, and never easy. It is also sometimes necessary and a catalyst for change. Dr. Sunita Sah helps us determine the right time and place to defy, and how we can get more comfortable standing up for our core moral values when the need arises.
There has been a push in many companies to end flexible work arrangements. Manar Sweillam Morales's research suggests that this is misguided. In this piece, Morales shares five specific reasons why flexibility is not only here to stay, but greatly benefits the businesses that get it right.
New Year's resolutions are often quickly abandoned. Shane Jackson argues that building self-trust through small, achievable goals leads to more meaningful change over time.
Writing a book is an excellent way for business owners to share their ideas. Emily Crookston demonstrates that it’s not as intimidating as it seems; all it takes is starting with a rough draft.
While it may seem that workplace culture develops spontaneously, Thomas Krause asserts that leaders can and should actively shape it to benefit everyone.
How can we determine the truth in an era of widespread misinformation? Cynthia Hetherington presents open-source intelligence as a valuable tool for navigating data and making decisions based on verified information.
Instead of solely addressing a customer's problem, Adam Wallace contends that it's more effective to emphasize how products and services can enhance the customer's quality of life.
Kenneth Boyer writes that adopting electric vehicles is crucial for achieving a more sustainable economy and points out Norway's remarkable shift in its automotive industry towards a greener future.
Jeff Gothelf and Josh Seiden argue that delivering meaningful value to customers, rather than merely meeting numerical targets, results in better work and greater employee satisfaction.
Parents may feel anxious when their child chooses a non-traditional path instead of following conventional schooling or careers. In response, Margot Machol Bisnow highlights individuals who succeeded by defying expectations early in their lives.
Many individuals set life goals out of anxiety about the future. However, Joseph Nguyen states that when we align our goals with our inspirations, we pave the way to lasting fulfillment.
There is no quick fix for becoming an effective leader; it is a practice rooted in perseverance and authenticity, writes Lida Citroën.
We move forward with our plans and strategies not by knowing exactly what lies ahead but by making assertions about what might come based on our present knowledge.
