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"It is vital to understand that we are living in a perfect storm that is making our reputations more fragile than at any other time in human history!
This perfect storm consists of the values-gap in behavior among leaders that litter the headlines, the fact that we are all now citizen journalists carrying smartphones to capture events, all colliding with the hyper-connected and shareable world that social media channels have created.
It's a new day in the court of public opinion and oftentimes these moments go viral and a bad situation gets worse in a hurry. It doesn't just impact high-profile leaders, executives, celebrities, and professional athletes. It's true for us and can be just as devastating as individuals as it is for companies."
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"Perhaps the most satisfying development associated with writing a book is when you as the author stumble upon a revelation in the middle of the process. For this book, I came to understand the answer to a question that I am often asked and have struggled to answer for many years. So many times, I am approached by an attendee and asked, 'Can people change?'"
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"Teamwork is a (if not the) quintessential and critical element of organizational life. Over 90 percent of what we do in our work lives happens through collaborative effort. That makes teams and teamwork the most important means of output and productivity in the organization. I think most organizations and people would agree with this statement. So you would think that organizations would treat team performance as a strategic imperative, but most do not, preferring to muddle on with poorly performing teams and accepting mediocrity. There needs to be a big attitude change and it needs to be now.
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Only 10 percent of teams are high performing, a frightening 40 percent are dysfunctional and detrimental to members experiences and lives, leaving 50 percent which are performing—at best—with small incremental results. This is what most organizations accept. I consider this unacceptable, particularly when delivering high performing teams is not rocket science. But it does take effort, it does take strategy, it does take time, it does take budget and, critically, it takes persistence and commitment from the organization, leaders and team members."
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"In the entrepreneurial world we have a silent killer. We don't talk about it very much, but it can put an end to a lifetime of hard work and planning. We owners take all of the risks and sometimes withering criticism and we start a business because we believe in what we and the business could accomplish in the world. Then, over time we build a thriving organization. It hums along, makes money, benefits everyone involved, meets customer demand, and helps the community grow and prosper.
All good so far.
But then we decide to make our exit, or the decision is made for us by health or family issues or other business interests. So, now what happens? Well, at least two thirds of the time, the business ceases operations, with all of the collateral damage that does.
It happens because we never transition the company to the next generation of leaders, not because we don't know how, but because we never get around to it. As CEO's and entrepreneurs, perhaps we think it will never happen to us, that maybe we have discovered the fountain of youth. A recent Wall Street Journal/Vistage poll showed that half of all business owners say that they have a succession plan, but only 25 percent have actually put pen to paper and written it down. I would contend that if you haven't written down your succession plan you don't really have one.
It doesn't have to be this way."
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"We preach collaboration, talk and train teamwork, but all the while organizations are optimized to manage, foster and reward individual effort.
I'm not the first person to notice or write about this. Nonetheless, most approaches to team effectiveness aren't designed to directly confront this organizational paradox: Collaboration is second- or third-nature for a large majority of us and this predisposes us to consistently revert to our more selfish ways, especially where we're rewarded and recognized to do so."
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