Leading Edge 120

Hybrid work – the flexibility to work from both home and office – has become a determining factor in job candidates’ decisions on accepting your offer…right up there with salary, vacation time, and other benefits. So, Greg Moran says, leaders must be definitive about their policies on WFH vs RTO!

Boeing's latest problem -- a door popping off a 737 in flight -- has its roots in practices started before the current CEO took office. So who's to blame? As with all good leaders, the CEO is taking full responsibility instead of casting blame. When you're in charge, the onus for solving problems is on you, no matter where their roots are. It's nothing new -- remember Harry Truman's desk sign of "The Buck Stops Here"? -- but today's leaders can sure use a refresher!

Last week's news from Davos contained an example of leadership vision that didn't get much mainstream coverage: Argentinian president Javier Milei's speech. Though his economic views are still in debate, Greg Moran found Milei's dedication to his vision a strong leadership lesson: do you believe in your company's vision strongly enough to share it far and wide, no matter how controversial? If not...

Lloyd Austin made the big leadership news story last week. And it gives us a leadership lesson that's very nonpartisan: leaders MUST communicate! When the Secretary of Defense's staff doesn't communicate his absence to the Commander in Chief, it's a huge risk to the nation. Similarly, as Greg Moran points out, not communicating with your team puts your department or organization at risk.

Last week's culmination of pressure on former Harvard University president Claudine Gay to resign presented a major leadership lesson for the rest of us: accountability is yours, whether you created it or not. Greg Moran admits it's not fair, but it IS part of the burden you bear when you work at the top. (And part of why it's lonely up there...)   Want a completely different perspective on leadership accountability? Check out our podcast on conscious leadership with Raj Sisodia and Sudhanshu Palsule at https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-f4fup-137bdce !

CEO Niraj Shah's end-of-year e-mail last week to Wayfair staff generated all kinds of publicity -- but not the kind Wayfair wants. Shah may have had some good points, but they were lost in the form, timing, and target of his note. Greg Moran has pointers for other CEOs so they don't make the same mistakes...and, instead, engender followership on their teams. To learn about great ways to communicate effectively, check out our full-length interview with filmmaker Chris Nolan; that podcast is available at https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-ngdbb-135f093 .

Colorado says no; Michigan says yes. States are already deciding whether Donald Trump can be on their ballots. But yea or nay, Greg Moran wonders if they’re deciding too quickly. What’s the leadership lesson here? For one thing, when you’re making decisions or policies on an unprecedented situation, take the time to make that decision carefully, looking ahead to future implications. It’s similar to last week’s lesson from the three university presidents in Congress and their free speech policies. To learn more about how judges reason through their decisions, check out our sister podcast with a former Supreme Court justice of Canada at https://bit.ly/JudicialLeadership .

When three university presidents danced around the limits of their free-speech policies last week, some glaring leadership lessons jumped out at Greg Moran. For one thing, think through the policies you create to make sure they won’t have unintended consequences down the road. It’s the old carpenter’s adage of “measure twice, cut once” applied to policy-making!

Tech start-up darlings seem to be in a plague: every week, another firm that had dazzled investors goes belly-up...or in lifeless survival mode. The common problem amongst them? Greg Moran points out they had poor business plans or products that just couldn't handle today's economic headwinds. Greg shares lessons to learn so YOUR firm keeps the unicorn magic!

One universal maxim for leadership: your team is watching you. As a leader, your followers emulate your behavior, not your words -- so your ethics and morality matter. In that light, Greg Moran comments on lessons to learn from the ouster of Representative George Santos from Congress last week.

In this week's episode, Greg Moran highlights missed opportunities due to the drama with Sam Altman and OpenAI last week, and what leadership lessons can be gained from the situation.

"When you leave a vacuum, you get a vacuum." In this week's episode, Greg Moran highlights the importance of setting clear cultural and ethical expectations within organizations, specifically identifying the leadership lesson of proactive culture shaping and its impact on workplace harmony.

There are a lot of lessons for leaders in the results of last week's elections. Chief among them: don't be out of touch with your constituency! Whether you're a politician or a CEO, Greg Moran observes that success means meeting your constituency where they are.

Another big tech "start-up" crumbled last week, and Greg Moran puts the failure here -- and on so many other tech shuttering tech firms -- squarely on the leadership. Whether it's the rockstar CEOs who walk away with millions while putting their employees on the unemployment line, or the start-up boards who don't hold them accountable, bad leadership is, sadly, all the rage in tech.

The tactic of delegitimizing your competition is a sign of weak leadership: it leads to polarization, pausing any path to progress. As Greg Moran explains, from governments to corporate boards, chaos and regression are common results.

Amazon is electrifying. As part of their climate pledge initiative, they're converting their fleets to electric vehicles: not just the ubiquitous delivery vans, but semi trucks, bicycles, drones...even pushcarts! Greg Moran unpacks the important lesson in this for other corporate leaders.

There is no greater story from last week than the outbreak of war between Hamas and Israel. Every war is the result of leadership failures — and holds clear lessons for all leaders. One prominent lesson Greg Moran sees is the need to find common ground in any negotiation. He explains in this week's episode.

The U.S. House of Representatives gave us a great example of how NOT to lead last week. As Greg Moran points out, taking a short term action without considering the broader, longer term consequences rarely leads to anything good -- whether you're leading a business or a government. Chaos commonly ensues. Instead, keep your eyes on the big picture and long-term goals.

Strikes were in the headlines last week as the WGA strike settled, while SAG and UAW strikes continued. Greg Moran observes that poor leadership on both sides leads to strikes, which he sees as a form of business civil war. Good leaders heed the pressures workers face and strive to resolve them before picket lines form. Watch this episode for more leadership lessons from last week's news!

Last week's speeches at the United Nations General Assembly contained many individual leadership lessons. But Greg Moran noticed a weakness among them all: from climate change to conflict, the solutions showed many world leaders still have the old-school scarcity mentality: someone (or something) must lose for the solution to win. But the best strategies for success let everyone win...or, at least, not lose!

Sadly, the top news from last week was filled with natural disasters. But the leadership lessons are strong: poor leadership vastly increased the casualties. One big takeaway, Greg Moran observes, is that highly hierarchical leadership -- such as an autocracy -- often leads to poor decisions, stagnation, and a notable lack of innovation...whether it's in a government or a corporation. Poor leadership can quite literally be a matter of life or death.

Aired: September 11, 2023 Greg and Maureen respond to a new report of a counter-intuitive trend: as people get promoted, they leave for a different job. Turnover is almost always more expensive than retaining someone on your team, so how do you prevent this trend? Greg shares a few ideas -- including promoting a person BEFORE they ask. Then, they offer kudos to Mexico, where BOTH major party candidates for President are female.

Aired: September 5, 2023 Quiet cutting -- aka quiet firing -- seems like corporate America's passive-aggressive response to workers' quiet quitting. But in reality, it's been around for decades. Greg Moran notes that the name has changed, but historically, companies have used some variation on it whenever they downsized.

Aired: August 28, 2023 Another study, and another result showing the work world has permanently changed: hybrid work beat out both work from the office (or RTO or whatever the CEOs are calling it lately) and full-time work from home. Hybrid workers or more engaged, and more in tune with the company mission. Greg Moran and Maureen Metcalf have the details in under two minutes!

Aired: August 22, 2023 It's okay to pay your employees more than you. If they bring more value to the company, their higher pay is an investment. On the other hand, it might only seem like you're getting paid less -- Greg Moran points out how the reality for leaders is often different in the long term!

Aired: August 14, 2023 Is a social divide at fault for Bud Light's recent woes? Only on the surface: the real issue for Budweiser was basic business: they broke their brand promise. It can be done, but with care. Greg Moran gives Maureen Metcalf the details in under two minutes!

Aired: August 7, 2023 Despite all the research on effective leadership, there are still bosses who think it's okay to be like J. Jonah Jameson -- yelling and losing your temper. But, as Greg Moran points out, your team stops listening when your temper flairs! There are times, though, when raising your voice IS the right thing to do. Learn more in this week's video!

Aired: July 31, 2023 Last week, Israel's Knesset passed legislation that reduces the power of the country's court system. Underneath the politics, there are important lessons for leaders worldwide, in both government and business: leadership is a joint dance, not a solo performance. As Maureen and Greg point out, in change management, building trust and inspiration are vital for a smooth transition.

Aired: July 24, 2023 Greg and Maureen react to Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg challenging each other to a cage fight. Whether the do it or not, their back-and-forth about the match reveals a lot about the quality and style of their leadership. And how they behave is how their company culture will behave...

Aired: July 17, 2023 After SCOTUS ruling against affirmative action, Greg Moran & Maureen Metcalf give a two-minute capsule of its effects on businesses. The bottom line: it's time to actively boost diversity in the recruitment pool!

Aired: July 10, 2023 In two minutes, Greg & Maureen give their take on a recent WSJ article about CEOs and other leaders using psychedelic drugs -- not so much for recreation, as for giving them a unique leadership edge. Will psychedelics find a new home in the C-suite?

Aired: June 30th, 2023 The rapid pace of businesses implementing AI hit the leadership news this week. Greg Moran warns leaders that is leading to ill-considered approaches to the human side of adopting AI: it can drive disengagement, and even mental health issues. Greg and Maureen Metcalf discuss the details.

Aired: June 26th, 2023  Our look at the week's top leadership stories puts Reddit right in the crosshairs: Greg Moran sees Reddit as a real-world example of what happens when a company's leaders don't understand their own systems or customers. What current news stories do YOU think deserve a look through a leadership lens?

Aired: June 17th, 2023 This launches our latest experimental series. In "Leading Edge 120," ILI regular Greg Moran will bring us important news for leaders from the past week -- with his well-honed perspective added to the mix. In our debut episode, Greg reviews the report last week tracking continued worker disengagement, and why that means quiet quitting also continues unabated. It's a clarion call for leaders if they want any hope of keeping their best talent on board!