Inclusiveness of diversity forms a virtuous cycle with psychological safety

In 2014 I wrote an article about the benefits which diversity in team composition can bring to risk identification. With different backgrounds and experiences, team members will usually identify a richer set of risks than might be defined by a group with limited diversity. It is also recognized that diverse teams are usually more creative and can be more innovative.

But while attending an Agile20Reflect event yesterday where a fair amount of time was spent by the participants discussing the lack of diversity in the boards of some agile associations and in the hiring of agile roles within certain companies, it reminded me that just because we conceptually accept something doesn’t mean we are great at putting it into action.

Inertia often trumps diversity when it comes to staffing teams.

In matrix contexts, PMs will be providing their skill requirements to people managers and while the PM might be considering the overall team makeup in the back of their minds, priority is often too heavily placed on getting someone with the best skills to complete the expected work. Functional managers are faced with fielding multiple parallel and often competing requests for talent, so adding diversity into search criteria might be seen as a nice-to-have requirement. Even if the PM is at a higher level of power or influence, they might be reluctant to push back on the staffing recommendations made by the functional managers purely on a lack of diversity.

In projectized situations, the PM has much greater control over who will be part of their team, but if they are facing pressure to meet aggressive dates, they might be inclined to build the team as quickly as possible which means that diversity again takes a back seat.

Diversity quotas are not an answer as such strategies are divisive by intent. Oversight helps, but nothing will replace the real commitment of a PM to building their team with diversity in mind.

Staffing is just the first step.

Opportunities provided by having greater team diversity are squandered if we don’t incorporate inclusiveness into team culture. For example, a PM’s attitude towards conflict will affect how successful they are with inclusiveness. If they are concerned about intellectual friction, a conflict-averse PM might prefer to let the louder voices within the team drown out the rest.

We need to start by baking inclusiveness into team working agreements and we need to model inclusive behavior in our interactions with the team. It could also be a topic of discussion during reflection events by having team members identify behaviors and actions which were inclusive and those which weren’t.

It is not by accident that embracing diversity has been paired with psychological safety within the first promise of the Disciplined Agile mindset as the two go hand-in-hand. The more inclusive we are with the diversity in our teams, the safer our team members will feel. And the safer our team members feel, the more they will be inclined to respect and encourage opinions which are different than their own.

source https://coo.systems/inclusiveness-of-diversity-forms-a-virtuous-cycle-with-psychological-safety/

Visionary Business Leadership

Creativity and imagination have never been more important for a successful business leader than they are in this day and age. I liken the creative process of a business leader to the efforts of the captain of an America’s Cup sailboat racing team. There is a crew of many people, but there is only one visionary […]

License and Republishing: The views expressed in this article Visionary Business Leadership are those of the author Doug Patton alone and not the CEOWORLD magazine.

source https://coo.systems/visionary-business-leadership/

To Make Growth Mindset Work, You’ve Got To Get To Its Roots

A great deal has been written about growth mindset and how it applies to leadership. The theory, originated by Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck, argues that each and every one of us has the capacity to view the world as either limited or unlimited, closed or open or, in Dweck’s terminology, fixed or growth-oriented. The […]

License and Republishing: The views expressed in this article To Make Growth Mindset Work, You’ve Got To Get To Its Roots are those of the author Larry Robertson alone and not the CEOWORLD magazine.

source https://coo.systems/to-make-growth-mindset-work-youve-got-to-get-to-its-roots/

3 Actions Every Company Should Take to Foster Diversity and Inclusion This Year

Businesses and institutions have prioritized diversity and inclusion for many years now, though some have had more success in obtaining and retaining diverse employees and practices than others. As there has been a spotlight on diversity, equity and inclusion in the national workplace discussion, especially this past year, modern companies understand the importance of having […]

License and Republishing: The views expressed in this article 3 Actions Every Company Should Take to Foster Diversity and Inclusion This Year are those of the author Wynne Nowland alone and not the CEOWORLD magazine.

source https://coo.systems/3-actions-every-company-should-take-to-foster-diversity-and-inclusion-this-year/

Anguilla’s Expanded MEADS Bay Bubble Gives Visitors Multiple Beach and Dining Options

Group of Villas, Resorts, and Restaurants On MEADS Bay Partner to Give In-Bubble Guests Expanded Beach Access. Until now, travelers to Anguilla were only able to access the beach directly in front of their accommodations while in the island’s required 10- to 14-day vacation bubble. However, with the development of the new Meads Bay Bubble, […]

License and Republishing: The views expressed in this article Anguilla’s Expanded MEADS Bay Bubble Gives Visitors Multiple Beach and Dining Options are those of the author Sophie Ireland alone and not the CEOWORLD magazine.

source https://coo.systems/anguillas-expanded-meads-bay-bubble-gives-visitors-multiple-beach-and-dining-options/

Amazon and Advertising: Watch out Facebook (and Amazon’s sellers)

Over the past four years, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) has uncorked a gusher of cash by driving up advertising on its Marketplace. Ad revenues are up from $1.7 billion in 2015 to $14 billion in 2019, and to a staggering $8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020 alone – up 66% in a single year. This […]

License and Republishing: The views expressed in this article Amazon and Advertising: Watch out Facebook (and Amazon’s sellers) are those of the author Dr. Robin Gaster alone and not the CEOWORLD magazine.

source https://coo.systems/amazon-and-advertising-watch-out-facebook-and-amazons-sellers/

Modernizing Performance Management: The CEOs Guide

The drivers of high performance extend beyond an annual goal-setting process and doing performance reviews at the end of the year.  The coronavirus continues to be a rough ride for people worldwide. It’s been hard-hitting for businesses too. As a new vaccine carries hope for a post-pandemic future, the need to redefine new normal opens […]

License and Republishing: The views expressed in this article Modernizing Performance Management: The CEOs Guide are those of the author Deana Murphy, Ph.D. alone and not the CEOWORLD magazine.

source https://coo.systems/modernizing-performance-management-the-ceos-guide/

Stop planning, forget the “How”

The last couple of weeks, I’ve been talking about aiming for MUCH bigger in my business, in my life, and in my purpose. I’ve stretched, looked into the fears of dreaming TOO big (is there such a thing?!) and looked at all the other emotions that come up once I’ve actually MADE the decision to play a bigger game: issues of safety, not rocking the boat, and self-doubt as to whether I really CAN play a bigger game in life and business.

But then, if this weren’t enough, there’s yet another thing that is likely to stop a

…

Executive Coaching

The post Stop planning, forget the “How” first appeared on OPS Coach.

source https://www.ops.coach/stop-planning-forget-the-how/

6 Ways Your Project Portfolio Reinforces Your Corporate Culture

Sustaining your corporate culture can be a challenge. Companies mature, leadership teams change, and busy workloads make it tough to focus on anything other than daily tasks.

With support from an experienced project portfolio management consulting team to ensure your implementation is successful, you can use your portfolio to reinforce your corporate culture and nurture it even as your business evolves.

1 – Align initiatives with the culture you desire

A robust portfolio management strategy enables you to build your corporate culture by deliberately supporting projects that align with your values. An organization seeking to develop a stronger

…

Consulting Firms

The post 6 Ways Your Project Portfolio Reinforces Your Corporate Culture first appeared on COO Business.

source https://coo.systems/6-ways-your-project-portfolio-reinforces-your-corporate-culture/

Creating, Sharing and Living a Leader Philosophy

The Power of the “Be”

Just as a diamond requires three properties to form—carbon, heat, and pressure—leaders require the interaction of three properties—character, knowledge and application. The U.S. Army leadership framework of “Be, Know, Do” is the foundation behind one of the most powerful tools a leader can deploy—the leadership philosophy. The Army’s Leadership Framework describes “Be” as character; “Know” as the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities (expertise); and “Do” as applying leadership by influencing, operating, and improving. To “Be” a leader, you must understand and communicate who you are and what you expect, to best influence positive momentum in others.

A leadership philosophy is the key tool for leaders to share their core identity with the people they lead and with whom they work. It is their written “handshake” with the organization—a way for leaders to share with people what is expected of them and what the team members, in turn, can expect from the leader. Leaders have benefited from taking the time to develop and update this tool as part of their leadership journey. The resulting transparency impacts organizational culture. By living and leading with a leadership philosophy, leaders can better inspire others around them and set the conditions for the success of individuals, teams, and the organization.

Allen Wyatt, Plant Manager at National Gypsum, worked with BG LeBoeuf as part of a corporate leadership program in which a core deliverable was creating a leadership philosophy. He reflects that “the knowledge gained about leadership philosophies was a life-changing event in my leadership career and development. It taught me how to lead people and manage change. I used the leadership philosophy to collect my thoughts, define the current situation in my facility, and develop a list of personal leadership values that would benefit the company the most. This philosophy was used to set my standards and expectations as a leader. It served as a foundation that defined our work culture, held me accountable as a leader, and ultimately helped our facility to earn multiple achievement awards.”

Importance of a Leadership Philosophy: Perspective from the Generals

Brigadier General (Ret.) Becky Halstead

For me, writing a leadership philosophy was the most important leader development action I took toward becoming a more effective leader. It was the number one leader tool I used throughout my 27-year military career and beyond. I intentionally and deliberately used it to hold myself accountable, and I shared it to allow others to hold me accountable.

I first wrote my philosophy in 1997, when I was selected for battalion command and had just attended the Army’s pre-command course. It was my first introduction to the concept of a leadership philosophy, and those of us attending the course were given a variety of examples to help with shaping our own philosophy. At that time, I had been in the Army for 16 years and had held numerous leadership positions. So, when people ask me how long it took for me to develop my leadership philosophy, I tell them it took nearly 2 decades!

As I sat in my new office, with a blank piece of paper in front of me, I decided to first outline what was most important to me as a leader—personal values, what I demanded of myself and expected of others. I spent the next several hours reflecting over my leadership journey, and I created an acronym to capture my values—STEADFAST (Soldiering, Training, Excellence, Attitude, Discipline, Family-Faith-Friends, Accountability, Selfless Service, Teamwork).

I believe the combination of my deliberate process to write my leader philosophy, and having almost 2 decades of leadership experience, resulted in my creating a leadership tool that served me well for the next decade. I changed it very little during my last 11 years in the Army, and it was my most effective leadership tool. I still live it and lead by it today in my personal and professional life as an inspirational speaker, coach, and corporate guide.

Brigadier General (Ret.) Maureen LeBoeuf, Ed.D.

During my 28-year career in the U.S Army, I served as the Director of Instruction in the Department of Physical Education (DPE) at the United States Military Academy at West Point from 1994-1996 and then spent the following year at the Army War College. During the year away, I applied for, and was selected as, the Director and Head of DPE. This was an historic selection, as I am the first woman to chair a department at West Point, and at the time I was selected, West Point had been building the next generation of military leaders for 195 years. I served as Head of the Department of Physical Education from 1997 until my retirement in 2004.

While I had served in DPE and was known by the staff and faculty, they didn’t know me as the head of the department. Additionally, my predecessor had led DPE for 23 years. I knew that the first conversation I had with the department was going to be extremely important. In anticipation, prior to my arrival, I wrote my leadership philosophy. The values I selected were: care, dignity and respect, development, managing change, diversity, pride, maintain a sense of humor, and wellness. The following is an excerpt from my leadership philosophy:

Diversity – we are all different and it is that difference that makes us unique and strong.

• We have a wonderfully diverse faculty in DPE; each individual brings their own unique talent, skills and ideas. Everyone is expected and encouraged to contribute. There are no rookies in DPE, first year faculty members yes, but no rookies.

• I value your opinion; I will listen and take suggestions into consideration when making a decision. However, once I make a decision, the debate is over.

Leadership Philosophies in Action

Many are familiar with the group stages of forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning (source: Tuckman). This is a somewhat normal sequence of events when organizations are formed or transformed, when new people join the team, or new leaders step move into leadership positions. The leader philosophy is a hugely effective tool for reducing the learning curve, minimizing surprises, and quickly bringing the team together in a cohesive manner.

As Head of DPE, BG LeBoeuf would share her leadership philosophy with the department at the start of each academic year. Additionally, if a new member arrived in the department after the start of the academic year, they would have an office call, and she would review her leadership philosophy. This way, she knew that everyone in the department heard about her leadership philosophy from her. A new team member means you have a new team; sharing leadership philosophies also helps the individual and team move from forming to performing.

BG Halstead refers to her leader philosophy as her “life philosophy,” because it is how she leads her life every day. Leading is not something you turn on and off between work and home. Her leadership philosophy became the very first document and conversation with every new team she led. As new members joined her team, she shared her leader philosophy with them, as well. It was her personal and professional handshake with every member of her team. By creating the acronym “STEADFAST” to capture the essence of her leader philosophy and defining what each of those individual values meant to her, she discovered that people easily embraced and remembered what she shared.

A leadership philosophy is also one way in which you hold yourself accountable; by sharing it with others, you allow others to hold you accountable, as well. Sharing your leadership philosophy can help create a work environment where your team members know they can approach you, respectfully challenge, and further discuss issues. For example, while serving in Iraq, BG Halstead gave her staff specific guidance for providing high-level detail and data on the status of all vehicles that had been modified with additional armor (including Iraqi partner forces). Her senior plans officer requested to see her and explained the significant resources required to complete this task (and what work would not be completed as a result). BG Halstead then reassessed the requirement and drew the conclusion that other than “nice to know”, she really did not need all that data and details; this is a great example of living her leadership philosophy.

Your leadership philosophy is also an effective tool for bridging relationships with people outside of your organization/team. BG Halstead was a logistician in the Army and her organizations provided support (supplies, ammunition, food, water, maintenance of vehicles and weapons, medical, etc.) to other organizations. To be more effective and efficient in their performance, they needed to develop relationships with those organizations. She used her leader philosophy to foster those relationships.

For example, while serving in Iraq from 2005 to 2006, BG Halstead was responsible for 20,000 military men and women and 5,000 civilian contractors. It was impossible to personally introduce herself to each and every person on her team. So, she used her leader philosophy to connect and bridge that gap.

You can also use your leadership philosophy to influence other leaders to invest time and energy into writing theirs, too. It is a way in which you can “lead up” to your boss. By sharing your own leadership philosophy with them, you can encourage them to do the same.

Corporate leaders also find incredible value in writing and sharing their own leadership philosophies. Here are a few notable ways that a philosophy has had a positive impact on the leaders, their teams, and their organizations.

Jen Vasin, Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Insight, says “the exercise of writing (and living by) my leadership philosophy has helped me to grow as a leader. Most notably, it is a document that holds me personally accountable for the type of leader I proclaim to be. The philosophy has been helpful to people I interview for my direct team at Insight so they can decide if I’m the type of leader they’re interested in working for. Once people come onboard, the philosophy allows them to call me directly when/if I misstep, and they can support me in getting back on track. And, last, but actually most important, the philosophy allows me to make difficult decisions about how to spend my time; when I am in doubt about which of two activities to work on, I look no further than the leadership philosophy for direction and guidance.”

 Mallory Trusty, Vice President of OP Experience at OrthoPediatrics, said that writing her leadership philosophy “allowed me to reflect on my values and strengths as a leader, and to be more intentional about communicating those beliefs to my team. I have shared my Leadership Philosophy with all my colleagues, supervisors and direct reports – specifically inviting them to hold me accountable to the behaviors I believe in, and aspire to, as a leader. As a result, I have had more open conversations about leadership, and my performance – and shared this experience with others throughout OrthoPediatrics.”

How to Create a Leadership Philosophy

The leadership philosophy is a tool that works well for leaders in business and industry. While the end result of the written philosophy may not look complex, it does take time to develop. It requires self-reflection to determine what really are your values – what is truly important to you, how you live, and how you lead. While this can take some time, don’t let overthinking it get in the way of getting your first draft completed.

Tyler Kunkel, Lead Product Trainer at US Ophthalmics says that “writing your leadership philosophy is challenging for most people to complete. It’s almost like describing the most incredible adventure where you visualize it perfectly, however, you can’t decide where to begin despite your excitement. Upon putting pen to paper, we see our people at US Ophthalmics lead with greater confidence in their purpose, and I can personally attest to just that. Since writing mine over 4 years ago, I have led with greater clarity ensuring my vision, actions, and behaviors align to my purpose.”

Your leadership philosophy does not need to be too long — two pages at the most. There is no singular format, so write it in a way that reflects how you lead or aspire to lead. The most important part is getting started! Below is high-level approach for preparing a leadership philosophy:

1. Select your personal leadership values. The narrowing down of values can be daunting. However, as a leader, you cannot be everything to everyone. A way to narrow down the list is to put the words in the following categories: most important, important, not important. Narrow down to your top five to ten. The values you ultimately select should reflect who you really are (or who you aspire to be). They must be your authentic self.

2. Define each value. Remember, this is your definition, not Webster’s.

3. Write how you will live the values you selected and what you expect of your team or organization.

4. Once your leadership philosophy is written, allow some trusted advisors to review it. It is important to ask for feedback around this all-important document. You want to ensure the values you selected are authentic, the document is easy to understand, and there are no typos.

5. Once your leadership philosophy has been completed, share it with your team.

6. The most important part of the leadership philosophy is that you must live it!

7. Review your leadership philosophy at least annually, as both you and your organization will change over time. Your leadership philosophy will evolve as you do.

In both BG LeBoeuf’s and BG Halstead’s books, Developing Your Philosophy of Living & Leading and 24/7: The First Person You Must Lead Is You, respectively, they guide leaders through how to turn values into what will become their individual leadership philosophy. The Generals expound on how they developed and live their own philosophies; they also give examples of other leaders’ philosophies as guidance and inspiration.

Closing Thoughts: “Be” the Standard

Leadership is about leading by example and being the standard. One of the best ways to do so is to invest your time and efforts into writing your leadership philosophy. Your leadership philosophy is your “handshake” and commitment with, and to, others. By sharing it with those who work with you, you are also communicating the importance and priority you place on the leadership philosophy. This action also influences those on your team to follow suit and do the same for their team. Hands down, it will become one of your most powerful leader tools.

Write (or refresh) your leadership philosophy, share it, and most importantly, live it!

The post Creating, Sharing and Living a Leader Philosophy appeared first on ChiefExecutive.net.

source https://coo.systems/creating-sharing-and-living-a-leader-philosophy/

Heroizing CEOs Exacerbates Gender Divide

We all strive to be leaders in one way or another: whether it is in leading our workplaces, communities or in personal capacities, the general consensus is that it is good to be a leader. The lines get more blurred as we investigate how we define “good” leadership vs. “bad” leadership. For a long time, “good” leadership has been defined by characteristics traditionally attributed to males, whether they are physical, such as speaking in a lower pitched voice or preferred leadership styles, such as taking a hierarchical approach.

We heroize leaders who embody these characteristics. They stand above and apart from those they lead—sometimes to disastrous effect. For example, WeWork’s Adam Neumann and his “charismatic leadership” is largely credited as a factor in the company’s failed IPO. Neumann’s aggressive and often toxic behavior was continuously excused — and the cracks in WeWork’s business model were swept under the rug — thanks to the heroized myth of the former CEO and conviction in his singular vision.

This narrow view of “good” leadership negatively impacts women in the workplace. When women attempt to adopt “male” leadership qualities, they can often be perceived as unlikeable, arrogant and self-promoting. It’s also bad for business. When we stop perpetuating leadership values based on a male-dominated culture and heroizing leaders, we create space for new models of leadership that are better for women—and better for the bottom line.

Based on the insights of 24 leading women in innovation, we’ve identified the following approaches to expand the definition of “good” leadership.

• Bridge the gap between CEO and all employees by highlighting their similarities instead of their differences. In addition to removing the “us vs. them” mentality, moving away from singular spotlights to highlighting teams and collaboration promotes the very conditions that enable innovation and company longevity.

• Model vulnerability and authenticity. 72% of employees want to see a new definition of leader. This means the environment is ideal for leaders to show up as themselves, and be transparent about their values, strengths and weaknesses.

• Reconsider how you evaluate for leadership qualities. Whether it is the structure of performance reviews or promotions, ensure that what you’re deeming as important drives employees to take on a more human-centric, authentic leadership style in their day-to-day. Place higher emphasis and weight on values that promote collaboration, tolerance and inclusivity.

• Create diverse representation at every level, from analysts to senior management. In order to create an environment that highlights different leadership values and styles, it is important to show variety in both the leadership styles companies choose to value within their companies, and the representation and diversity employees see at each level. Traditionally, there are more women and people of color in entry-level roles but seeing them at the leadership level becomes an exception to the rule, which sets a negative precedent for all employees.

• Battle perpetuating imposter syndrome that comes with labels, such as ‘the only’ or ‘the first.’ Once women enter positions of power, 54% say that they experience imposter syndrome at high or frequent levels, versus 24% of men. With unrealistic expectations around what leadership means (and looks like) as well as labels that perpetuate these expectations, it is no surprise that fewer women even attempt to get on the leadership ladder in the first place.

The heroization of male leaders has been an issue for decades, if not longer. But recent events, including the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement, have brought about conditions that humanized many of our leaders. We have seen leaders openly discuss their own biases and naivete in regard to issues of inequity and injustice. We have also seen more intimate details of their home lives via Zoom calls, including families, pets and children. While the future remains uncertain, one lesson of the past year is that we should embrace CEOs and leaders that offer vulnerability and authenticity as a means to develop more inclusive and impactful leadership models.

The post Heroizing CEOs Exacerbates Gender Divide appeared first on ChiefExecutive.net.

source https://coo.systems/heroizing-ceos-exacerbates-gender-divide/

IT IS NOT JUST THE MONEY

It’s not just the money. This was Ralph Anderson’s bottom line take away. I have interviewed many company owners and CEOs while writing my book, Create the Future – for your company and yourself. The owner of a property and casualty insurance agency told me about his experience founding, growing, and selling his company. Here […]

License and Republishing: The views expressed in this article IT IS NOT JUST THE MONEY are those of the author Rick Williams alone and not the CEOWORLD magazine.

source https://coo.systems/it-is-not-just-the-money/

How an oncologist is hitting Big Tobacco where it hurts – in the wallet

The Kubler-Ross Change Curve is well known – the sequence of emotions that we all experience when major change is done to us. But there is another change curve that no-one warns us about. I call it ‘The Quantum Leap Change Curve’. It is the sequence of emotions that we experience when we instigate major […]

License and Republishing: The views expressed in this article How an oncologist is hitting Big Tobacco where it hurts – in the wallet are those of the author Campbell Macpherson alone and not the CEOWORLD magazine.

source https://coo.systems/how-an-oncologist-is-hitting-big-tobacco-where-it-hurts-in-the-wallet/

Ram Charan: The One Essential For CEOs Facing The Worst

A dozen years ago, Andrew Liveris, CEO of Dow Chemical, was facing the worst day of his professional life. At the time, Liveris had a seemingly airtight agreement to buy Rohm and Haas, a chemical company, for around $9 billion. To pay for the purchase, he sold one of Dow’s key assets to a Kuwait company partially owned by the Kuwait government. Or thought he did.

But a few days before the transaction was going to be completed, the Kuwaitis sent a note to Liveris. The deal was off. There would be no cash coming.  When Liveris got the news, he was devastated. He had no ready access to cash from any other avenue. Appeals to both Rohm and Haas—and to the Delaware court—went nowhere.  It was solely up to him to steer Dow clear of a potential bankruptcy and to preserve his reputation.

Everyone knows the cliché about the CEO having “the loneliest job in the world.” Extreme surprises like the one that Liveris faced are rare. Less dramatic ones are more common: A standoff with the board or a particular board member; a product disaster, like the Boeing 737 Max; a social media firestorm; even an attack by a key executive.

Loneliness during these times isn’t entirely preventable—but from my experience working with dozens of chief executives, I can tell you that the feeling can be quickly overcome. By putting into place a structure before those situations arise, leaders can avoid much of the uncertainty, fear, and clouded judgment that loneliness inevitably creates.

The core of this structure is simple, essential and too often overlooked. First, you must assemble a group of people who act as a sounding board. Second, you must engage in the right kinds of conversations.

Find Trusted Confidants

Every leader needs at least one or two people to talk to when a difficult moment arises.  The time to develop these relationships is not when you need them—it’s when you don’t.

Who should these people be? They don’t have to be in your industry, or even in business, as long they have common sense and share some essential qualities.

Who has the wisdom and curiosity to ask great questions, the kind that open the doors of your mind and change your perspective? Simple questions can break your mental blockages and help you shape new solutions.

And whom do you trust implicitly?  You need people who are honest to the bone—and have your best interests at heart.  Then you can be totally open with them, without fear of looking weak or foolish.

Some CEOs form relationships through peer networks, like the Young Presidents’ Organization or Chief Executive Group’s Chief Executive Network. Others meet periodically with a small group of CEOs from other industries. Jeff Immelt, former CEO of GE, was known to do this. So do several other CEOs I know.

Nurturing this group takes time and commitment, and there is no shortcut. But it is well worth the effort. Hiring a professional coach or a psychiatrist in the midst of a crisis won’t cut it.

If this advice seems simplistic, I can tell you—it isn’t. Far too many CEOs I have worked with make the mistake of neglecting development of this “personal board of directors,” as some call it.

Have Candid Conversations 

For those who have not yet had the kind of day Liveris had, I can tell you what will happen as you are confronted with disaster, public humiliation, press attacks and so on. First, you will not think clearly. There is a fog brought on by emotion. Second, your fear will block out options. There may be a set of goals—two, three, ten—and they will conflict. You won’t know how to resolve them.

That’s where you need to be able to turn to your personal confidants or sounding board to help you think things through.

To start, call one of them and ask them to have a drink and dinner. Tell them that the conversation is very confidential. Sit down, order the meal and start talking.

You’ll probably be unclear at first. The other person will probably have to listen, draw you out, and probe to understand the many things you’re trying to consider. Your thoughts may be rather incoherent, and you may not be able to articulate a solution. You may blame someone — “So and so did such and such to me” — that kind of thing.

All of that is okay—and why you want to be talking to someone you know well and really trust.

In highly-charged situations, one-on-one is best. You will be seeking new ways of looking at the problem, clarity about different obstacles, and trying to keep your emotions from distorting your thoughts. The person will be asking common sense questions.  The conversation will be informal, and you can meet again over a period of time.

Ideally the person will ask simple questions, and you’ll keep talking and explaining. They’ll pick up on patterns in the conversations, threads that you are unaware of.  They may offer suggestions, ask more questions, or provide some ideas. You’ll start to see things differently. And you’ll see a way through.

Liveris did exactly that. He talked to a number of people, people he had known for a long time, whom he trusted, and asked them what they would have done. As a result, he came up with several alternatives—and eventually found a financing option that included participation from Warren Buffett. Throughout the ordeal, Dow’s stock price suffered, and people thought it would go bankrupt.

But Liveris persevered, Dow completed the transaction, and the share price came back. And so did Liveris. He helped accomplish the merger of Dow and DuPont. A major feat.

The post Ram Charan: The One Essential For CEOs Facing The Worst appeared first on ChiefExecutive.net.

source https://coo.systems/ram-charan-the-one-essential-for-ceos-facing-the-worst/

How to Recognize — and Change — the Shared Dominant Logics Running Your Organization

What does “culture” mean to you? Is it how people feel? What they do? What they like and don’t like? What they value? What they say? Does it have something to do with free food and foosball? Or some combination? If you are not sure, you are not alone. In popular use, the word is […]

License and Republishing: The views expressed in this article How to Recognize — and Change — the Shared Dominant Logics Running Your Organization are those of the author David G. White, Jr., Ph.D. alone and not the CEOWORLD magazine.

source https://coo.systems/how-to-recognize-and-change-the-shared-dominant-logics-running-your-organization/

Make Constructive Criticism Verbal, Not Digital

Have you ever sent an email, text, or direct message to someone only to have them react differently than you expected? Do you utilize digital messaging to deliver important messages regarding accountability or other constructive and corrective issues? If so, this may be why your recipients aren’t responding as you expected. Communication involving holding someone […]

License and Republishing: The views expressed in this article Make Constructive Criticism Verbal, Not Digital are those of the author Mary Smith alone and not the CEOWORLD magazine.

source https://coo.systems/make-constructive-criticism-verbal-not-digital/

Don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions

Sound familiar? This common phrase, passed down from generation to generation of executives and managers, was once believed to be the key to delegating and enrolling others in finding solutions to problems encountered in the workplace. But it doesn’t work. In fact, this monologic mindset – or one way conversation – actually hinders learning and […]

License and Republishing: The views expressed in this article Don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions are those of the author Marsha Acker alone and not the CEOWORLD magazine.

source https://coo.systems/dont-bring-me-problems-bring-me-solutions/

Business Ethics in 2021: The Obligations of Employers – And Employees

Examples of transgressions in the business world are plentiful, from high-profile embezzlement schemes and false advertising to unethical internal practices such as substandard working conditions and sexual misconduct. According to Dr. Jim White, CEO of 13 companies and bestselling author of Broken America: Ten Guiding Principles to Restore America, it’s more critical than ever to […]

License and Republishing: The views expressed in this article Business Ethics in 2021: The Obligations of Employers – And Employees are those of the author Dr. Jim White alone and not the CEOWORLD magazine.

source https://coo.systems/business-ethics-in-2021-the-obligations-of-employers-and-employees/

Why Online Discussions Matter and Effective Tips to Make Them Awesome

Online discussions have become a crucial part of modern education. Many learning institutions are embracing them despite previous doubts. The reason is obvious: online interaction provides many advantages listed below. Benefits of Online Discussions Having a Personal Touch Some institutions are fully-fledged e-learning centers. There are minimal chances for face-to-face encounters among students and instructors. […]

License and Republishing: The views expressed in this article Why Online Discussions Matter and Effective Tips to Make Them Awesome are those of the author Sophie Ireland alone and not the CEOWORLD magazine.

source https://coo.systems/why-online-discussions-matter-and-effective-tips-to-make-them-awesome/

Six Essentials for CEO Resilience

Leaders typically look for predictability in their organizations’ circumstances, as predictability creates confidence that supports their decisions. But that is a mistake in today’s world. We are living in uncertain times, and the world is increasingly volatile, chaotic and ambiguous (VUCA). The only predictable factor is that change is inevitable. Therefore, as a CEO, you […]

License and Republishing: The views expressed in this article Six Essentials for CEO Resilience are those of the author Divya Parekh alone and not the CEOWORLD magazine.

source https://coo.systems/six-essentials-for-ceo-resilience/

How to Choose a Reliable Partner for Offshoring

While running an operations service company for software R&D centers in Ukraine, I’ve seen enough companies fail to properly set up teams abroad at the beginning. Vendors who lacked transparency and/or couldn’t live up to contractual expectations were usually to blame. Thus, I’ve decided to share with you some tips and tricks on how to […]

License and Republishing: The views expressed in this article How to Choose a Reliable Partner for Offshoring are those of the author Dmitry Ovcharenko alone and not the CEOWORLD magazine.

source https://coo.systems/how-to-choose-a-reliable-partner-for-offshoring/

What Health Reform May Mean For Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance

Employers provide insurance coverage for about 160 million Americans, and health care represents the largest cost after salary for many employers.  Unemployment due to the Covid-19 pandemic has led to a decrease in people eligible for employer-sponsored insurance, and the economic downturn threatens the viability of many businesses. Health care costs were down in 2020, but many project a return to health care inflation exceeding economic growth in 2021 and beyond. Pressure to enact health care reforms will continue in the 117th Congress.

The November 2020 election did not provide a mandate to pursue large structural changes in health care, but the Georgia Senate elections and the Democratic Senate takeover will make passage of some health care reform much more likely. The Biden Administration is also likely to use its executive power to enact elements of health care reform as well. Each proposed reform has implications for employer-sponsored health insurance and may have differential impacts on employees and employers.

Modifications to the Affordable Care Act

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), after surviving a decade of attempted repeals and four years of unenthusiastic stewardship during the Trump Administration, appears likely to withstand its current Supreme Court challenge with or without administrative or legislative action. The major impacts of the ACA on employer-sponsored health insurance include requirements to cover adult children up to age 26 and offer preventive services with no cost sharing, elimination of annual and lifetime maximums, prohibition of excluding pre-existing illnesses, some new taxes, and rules about affordability of premiums and out-of-pocket costs for employees.

The Biden campaign pledged to increase premium subsidies and place a ceiling on the portion of income Americans would spend on both premium and out-of-pocket health care costs. Both of these proposals are incorporated into Biden’s proposed $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill. Increased subsidies would help bolster the individual exchange markets in many states by encouraging more healthy Americans to purchase subsidized insurance. Strengthened individual insurance markets could encourage some employers to provide a fixed subsidy and discontinue directly providing health insurance, although current ACA rules prohibit employees who are eligible for an Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICHRA) from also receiving federal subsidy to purchase an exchange health insurance plan. Employers not offering “affordable” coverage today could face financial penalties if employees newly eligible for exchange subsidies enroll in exchange plans.

Antitrust enforcement

Over the last decade, efforts to “bend the cost curve” have focused on reforms that pay for value, not volume. But prices, not volumes, have been driving employers’ costs higher. Federal antitrust enforcement could contribute to reversing this trend.

The healthcare industry has experienced increasing provider consolidation which raises prices and has even been shown to decrease quality of care. Horizontal and vertical mergers will likely increase due to the financial pressures of the pandemic, as many hospitals and physician groups have seen dramatic declines in revenue and high margin elective procedures.

More aggressive antitrust enforcement could discourage consolidation and decrease leverage providers hold when negotiating prices with employers. These efforts could gain bipartisan support given the critical role competition can play in a health market, but would likely be opposed by health care providers who are the largest employers in many communities. Xavier Becerra, President Biden’s pick for HHS Secretary, took on market-dominant providers while serving as California’s Attorney General, but regulators might hesitate to oppose mergers given pandemic-related provider financial distress.

Civil rights enforcement

The Biden campaign pledged to reinvigorate civil rights enforcement, including addressing racial disparities, LGBTQ rights, reproductive rights for women, and rights for people with mental illness. Much of Biden’s civil rights agenda can be advanced through executive orders and executive branch action. The President’s appointment of the first ever cabinet-adjacent level health disparities advisor signals the seriousness with which the incoming administration plans to address these issues.

The Biden Administration has already issued an executive order stating that antidiscrimination rules apply to gender identity and sexual orientation. This supports the growing move of employers to provide coverage for transgender care. Increased enforcement of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) could require employer-sponsored health plans to improve access through widening their mental health treatment networks. Employers will likely breathe a sigh of relief with the termination of a 2020 Executive Order which threatened to prohibit federal contracts with firms which offered diversity training.

Interventions to lower drug prices

The United States has the highest drug prices in the world, and specialty drugs drive a substantial portion of medical inflation in employer-sponsored health insurance plans. Most developed countries use some form of price control or community-wide purchasing to address drug costs. The US has so far rejected this approach, but reforms proposed during the 116th Congress suggest policymakers are taking another look at exerting federal influence on drug prices paid by employers.

In Congress, House Democrats passed the Lower Drug Costs Now Act which would have given employers access to prices negotiated by Medicare for the top 250 drugs. A bipartisan proposed Senate bill last year would have discouraged drug manufacturers from raising list prices faster than inflation was projected to lower costs for employer populations. No legislation was passed, but the door is now open to legislative action to address drug costs beyond Medicare and Medicaid.

The Trump Administration finalized policies that would end drug rebates in Part D plans, tie Part B drug costs to rates negotiated by foreign countries and allow states to import drugs from other countries. All three policies face legal opposition. If they were to go into effect, they would primarily affect Medicare beneficiaries, not employer populations.

There are promising developments with value-based pricing for high-cost drugs in Medicaid, although these have not yet been shown to lower total costs. Employer-sponsored health plans have value-based pricing pilots underway that hold promise, but data on lowering cost and improving quality are limited.

Recent proposals aim to overhaul how prescription drugs are priced to respond to patients’ concerns over high drug costs. As more ambitious efforts stall in Congress and the courts, policymakers may gain focus on more vigorous enforcement of laws prohibiting brand name manufacturers from obstructing generic and biosimilar competition to lower costs for all purchasers.

Price transparency

The Trump Administration issued final regulations requiring hospital price transparency effective January 1, 2021, and health insurance plan transparency effective January 1, 2022. These regulations require hospitals and insurance plans to publish their contracted rates on public websites and in machine-readable format so that third parties can use this data in decision tools and other applications. Hospitals sued to stop the rules from going into effect but lost in both district and circuit courts. The Biden Administration has not yet revealed its position on these rules.

We believe that this transparency has the potential to improve costs in employer-sponsored insurance in part because employers will be better able to ascertain which insurers offer the best discounts. However, neither providers nor insurance carriers are eager for their prices to be in the public domain. Additionally, the majority of medical expenses are incurred by a small portion of the population, and only a minority of total medical costs are ‘shoppable.’ Regardless of whether the ultimate impact of price transparency is limited, employers with self-insured plans should be aware that they are responsible to make sure their plan administrator complies with these regulations.

Telehealth regulations and payment rates

Nine in 10 employers have offered telemedicine for the last 4 years, but the uptake was usually very low. The pandemic has changed all of that. Many providers who once required in-person visits have transitioned to providing many services via videoconference, most notably in behavioral health. Virtual care could help control medical costs in the future, as it’s hard to order ancillary tests for patients who are cared for remotely. Of course, if virtual visits are simply additive rather than replacing in-person visits post-pandemic, they may not lead to lower costs.

The Biden Administration can promote telehealth if it extends or makes permanent the Office of Civil Rights discretion which eases HIPAA restrictions. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will also determine ongoing Medicare payment rates for telehealth visits. Many commercial health plans follow Medicare’s lead on payment levels, and Medicare payment levels will also either encourage or discourage providers from continuing to offer robust telehealth services.

Reinsurance

Many states, including those with Republican legislative majorities, have lowered premiums and stabilized their exchanges with reinsurance programs through ACA Section 1332 waivers. These programs attract healthier members through lower premiums, and help recruit additional insurers to the market by decreasing risk.

Employer-sponsored health insurance plans often already purchase reinsurance for exceptionally expensive cases. However, products currently available from commercial reinsurers provide limited protection as they either exclude exceptionally expensive cases after the first year or raise premiums for employers with members with ongoing expensive care.

Community-wide reinsurance, modeled after successful exchange plan programs, could spread the financial risk of exceptionally expensive patients, including those who require genetic therapies or ongoing specialty medications. This could help lower premiums and reduce the possibility that employees with expensive illnesses in their families face discrimination in the workplace. It would also mitigate concerns over risk selection as more employers adopt individual market strategies like ICHRAs. Community-wide reinsurance would be easiest to accomplish in fully-insured plans regulated by states and would be most effective if it included active price and utilization management programs.

Rules to Prevent Surprise Billing

Surprise medical bills afflict patients with unexpected medical debt. This practice also raises employer costs, as hospital-based providers such as anesthesiologists, emergency department physicians, radiologists and pathologists use the threat of sending patients surprise medical bills to negotiate higher payments from insurers. These payments, in turn, get passed along to employers in the form of higher premiums.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act bans surprise billing as of January 1, 2022. The Act requires providers to notify patients that they are out-of-network at least 24 hours before elective services. Providers who deliver emergency care out-of-network must resolve billing disputes through arbitration with their patient’s health insurance carrier. Arbitrators will not be able to consider either billed charges or Medicare and Medicaid allowed charges when making their determination. Recent research showed that median arbitration awards in New Jersey were 5.7 times the prevailing in-network rate. The Department of Health and Human Services will implement the surprise billing ban through regulations promulgated in 2021.

This legislation will help lower patients’ total cost for care for many emergency procedures. If HHS regulations lower provider leverage, the ban on surprise bills could lead to a decrease of costs for employers for many services in specialties that had previously engaged in surprise medical billing.

Conclusion

The policies outlined here will impact employer-sponsored health insurance without changing the role employers play as the primary insurance provider for people of working age in America. Medicare for All, which was supported by many Democrats in the presidential primaries, would transfer the responsibility for insuring Americans to the Federal Government. However, President Biden instead supported a public option for those who buy their own coverage or opt out of employer-sponsored coverage. A public option offering broad networks with low out-of-pocket costs made possible through Medicare-like unit prices could attract many employees and propel some employers to exit the health insurance market. Such a plan might be especially attractive to older and sicker members, which could lower the average cost of those who remained on employer-sponsored health insurance.

For now, employer-sponsored health insurance is likely to remain the mainstay of health care finance for those under 65 and not covered by Medicaid. Yet with Democrats in control of the executive and legislative branches, the likelihood of substantial new legislative and regulatory health care reform over the next two years is now squarely in the realm of the possible.

The post What Health Reform May Mean For Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance appeared first on ChiefExecutive.net.

source https://coo.systems/what-health-reform-may-mean-for-employer-sponsored-health-insurance/

A Successful Cybersecurity Company Isn't About Fancy Technology

When starting to offer security, many companies immerse themselves in the technology. This is a common mistake.

source https://ops.company/a-successful-cybersecurity-company-isnt-about-fancy-technology/

Should You Use Your Own Name or Create a Brand Name for Your Business?

Consider these five reasons to avoid using your personal name and create a new brand name instead.

source https://ops.company/should-you-use-your-own-name-or-create-a-brand-name-for-your-business/

Beyond Bezos: Nine Challenges Facing Andy Jassy

It seems that Jeff Bezos is stepping down at the perfect time. Business is booming, revenues are blowing off the roof, and profits are up despite Covid-19 expenses. Amazon will overtake Walmart on gross merchandise sold in 2021; AWS is the dominant provider of cloud computing; advertising now poses a serious challenge to Google and Facebook; and Prime continues to be Amazon’s superglue for customers. Amazon’s new B2B business will likely break $20 billion or even $25 billion this year, while AWS, Marketplace, Advertising, and Prime are all generating operating income of at least $10 billion in 2021. And there are plenty of new opportunities as well – in logistics, in healthcare, in finance and in smart homes powered by Alexa.

So the future is blindingly bright. But Andy Jassy, the new CEO, still has a full plate of major strategic problems to resolve when he officially takes over later this year. Here are the top nine:

1) Stop the bleeding at Amazon Retail. Amazon’s traditional retail market is still growing fast, but the pool of red ink is growing even faster: it reached more than $30 billion in 2019. There are several explanations: delivering cheap items individually is a money loser; it’s very hard to efficiently managing the supply chains for many millions of items; the Amazon Marketplace is filled with formidable challengers in niche markets, who use Amazon’s tools and Amazon’s customers against it; and encouraging Chinese manufacturers to sell directly on the Marketplace disintermediated Amazon itself: here Amazon is the middleman being replaced by more efficient connections between manufacturers and customers. Jassy will likely have to take a hatchet to this segment. That’s not easy when it’s the flagship of your entire brand.

2) Cut delivery costs. Shipping and fulfillment have been rising steadily since at least 2014 as a share of overall reviews. By 2019 they reached 29%, and the push into one-day delivery plus the pandemic likely increased that share still further. While Marketplace merchants do cover their shipping costs, that’s not true of Amazon Retail. Amazon’s private label brands mostly sell low-priced items like batteries, computer widgets and cheap clothing, and that exacerbates the shipping burden. There are ways to cut costs, though. While Amazon is exploring most of them, this will demand Jassy’s attention.

3) Solve problems in the Marketplace. Its two million sellers include a lot of bad actors, and its reputation has suffered. A few fixes have worked, but others haven’t; some backfired by sweeping up legitimate sellers in a Kafkaesque nightmare. Top management needs to prioritize this area and add significant resources because both sellers and customers will leave if the Marketplace turns into a den of thieves policed by thugs.

4) Exit groceries. Amazon seems to be doubling down on its groceries bet. Jassy should be sure to re-read the 2006 letter to shareholders. In it, Bezos said: “I often get asked, ‘When are you going to open physical stores?’ That’s an expansion opportunity we’ve resisted. It fails all but one of the tests outlined above. The potential size of a network of physical stores is exciting. However: we don’t know how to do it with low capital and high returns; physical-world retailing is a cagey and ancient business that’s already well served; and we don’t have any ideas for how to build a physical world store experience that’s meaningfully differentiated for customers.” Bezos was right in 2005: every one of his objections still holds. Maybe Jassy, as an executive from outside retail, can steer Amazon away from this quagmire.

5) Make the case for Alexa. Alexa is a platform in search of a compelling application. It has more than 100,000 skills, of which only a handful  are used. Home security and healthcare seem to be the key avenues moving forward, but both have plenty of pitfalls. Amazon needs to find applications that resonate enough that customers will pay for them.  There are 10,000 people at Amazon working on Alexa and related devices. That’s not cheap.

6) Balancing advertising revenues against user experience. Amazon has over the past few years become a major player in digital advertising. It discovered that once advertising was permitted on the Marketplace, that almost immediately became compulsory for all sellers. Which in turn generated enormous revenues, massive profit margins (83% in 2019), and tremendous opportunity. However, stuffing ever greater numbers of ads into search result pages and product pages has significantly degraded the user experience. With further deterioration, Amazon risks its brand, which relies heavily on consumer trust: Amazon needs to present the best choices – not the best ads.

7) Fix and then automate the warehouses. At the back of many negative stories about Amazon lie the warehouses. Trying to turn humans into robot is always likely to end badly. Many stories emerging from the warehouses are bad, but Amazon has so far – with characteristic arrogance – responded with irrelevant stats and bland corporate PR. The warehouses will remain a thorn in Amazon’s side, and absent regulatory pressure it seems unlikely that Amazon will address the root causes of its problems there. But Amazon does plan to automate the warehouses, likely within 7-10 years. Jassy, with his AWS background, may be well placed to accelerate that process.

8) Amazon outside the US. Aside from the UK, Germany, and to a lesser degree France, where Amazon has had success based on being the first mover, international has been a continuing disappointment for Amazon.  It got chased out of China and is struggling in India (its key strategic target), where even the Marketplace is losing money, and where national defenses against foreign firms are increasingly important. AWS has been a global success, but the rest of Amazon has not. So Jassy needs to take a hard look, and decide which of Amazon’s international adventures are worth it. Poland may be a test case, as Amazon is entering a country where there is already a well established digital retail champion.

9) Prepare for more regulation. Bezos got pretty much a free ride on the regulatory front, but that’s ending. Both Congressional action and antitrust enforcement are ramping up. It’s certainly true that Amazon is better placed to push back than the rest of the Big Tech companies, as each has clear vulnerabilities. But Jassy needs to decide what he needs to defend and what he can let go; Amazon’s previous strategy of secrecy plus bland denials won’t be enough.

Beyond these nine challenges, Jassy also needs to help Amazon scale entry into new sectors. The boundaries of Amazon today will not its boundaries tomorrow. Retaining forward momentum is a key strategic objective, so Amazon is clearly on the hunt for new targets. Over the past five years it’s developed Amazon Business, which RBC estimated at $18 billion in 2020 and likely more than $30 billion by 2023. Government services is another high value target: Amazon recently signed an agreement to offer services to a coalition of 55,000 government agencies in the US. Amazon will likely double down on healthcare, and on Amazon in the home via Alexa and Ring. All that’s beyond outside the obvious opportunities to further monetize logistics, and to expand Amazon’s existing footprint in finance and in security/surveillance.

Overall, Bezos left Jassy a company stuffed with money-making enterprises, several growing explosively, and plenty of good opportunities. But it’s definitely not all milk and honey. There are some tough decisions ahead as well.

The post Beyond Bezos: Nine Challenges Facing Andy Jassy appeared first on ChiefExecutive.net.

source https://coo.systems/beyond-bezos-nine-challenges-facing-andy-jassy/