Sticky solutions to your everyday business challenges
Question: I’ve just landed a C-suite job with a great company. I am excited about the opportunity, but have one big concern – my predecessor was a much beloved superstar who has been with the company from Day 1. What advice do you have for how to win over my team and fill the void left by their beloved leader?
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Welcome to the twenty-fifth issue of CEE News!
As I watch the brutal beating that Hurricane Harvey has unleashed on my native state, my memories turn to growing up in one of its quaint country towns. Here is an excerpt about that experience from my book, Work On Purpose: I grew up in the town of Cut & Shoot, Texas. No kidding. It’s a tiny town nestled among the tall Texas pines about 40 miles north of Houston.
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A closer look at companies executing leadership excellence
For 35 years, Canadian-based Great Little Box Company has created an equally great little culture. What started as a three-person shop in 1982, has grown to 225 employees in locations across British Columbia and Vancouver, Washington. Along with the company’s financial success, Great Little Box Company has consistently ranked near the top of Forbes Best Companies list for the past 10 years.
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Sticky solutions to your everyday business challenges
Question: I manage a newly formed team of 7 people. We have major goals to accomplish in our first year, but conflicting opinions about how to achieve these goals. I understand that new teams go through stages of forming, storming, and norming, but how do I keep the team from stalling out in the storming stage?
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Welcome to the twenty-fourth issue of CEE News!
“You will work all the time. If you’re very, very lucky you may sleep or eat.” That’s an actual quote from a review posted on Glassdoor – a site where employees and job candidates can anonymously post pros and cons about your company. Like TripAdvisor and RateMyProfessors, Glassdoor is taking advantage of the transparency revolution. It’s a database of company reviews, CEO ratings, and benefits information that lets the world know what it’s like behind the curtain of your organization – from interview to exit.
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A closer look at companies executing leadership excellence
You have to hand it to a company that has survived for five decades, fought off imitators, and endured shaming for asking its employees to wear flair. The chain’s signature look – a combination of Antiques Roadshow and Hoarders – actually started in 1965 as one of New York’s City’s first singles bars. Alan Stillman, a 28-year-old perfume salesman who knew that his Upper East Side neighborhood was populated by models and flight attendants, wanted to provide a dignified place where singles could meet. Stillman decorated the first ...
Sticky solutions to your everyday business challenges
Question: I’ve been the VP of HR for my company for the past 8 years. A few months ago, the Founder/CEO left and a new CEO from outside the company took his place. At first, the new CEO was polite and professional. But, now he’s acting in a very disruptive, even abusive manner. He yells, intimidates, and even makes fun of people. He makes demands in our staff meetings one week, then denies that he did so the next week. Every day, employees tell me how scared they are of the new CEO. I’m in a position of having to counsel employees ...
Welcome to the twenty-third issue of CEE News!
One of the most challenging yet satisfying roles we play at Center for Executive Excellence is helping teams through culture transformations. These are heavy lift, long-term projects that require us to embed ourselves with our clients to execute the transformation roadmap. The mechanics of the process are tailored from client to client, depending on things like size, business case, and readiness for change. The emotional cycle, however, is a consistent 5-stage process.
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