![Doing Well by Doing Good: 12 Companies that Got it Right in 2017]()
Uncategorized
The strongest organizations in the world achieve sustainable success largely because they understand the value of culture as a competitive advantage. Whether you nurture it or not, you have a culture. It may be empowering or toxic. Either way, the results are showing up on your bottom line.
Here are the 12 companies we featured in CEE News this year that show how doing well and doing good are not mutually exclusive.
1. Dancing Deer Baking Company, Hyde Park, MA, “Scratch-Baked Goodness to the Community”
Dancing Deer Baking Company has flourished since introducing its first cookie in 1994 and so has the community of Hyde Park, Massachusettes. The bakery hires chronically unemployed individuals in the community and dedicates a portion of its profits to local development projects. Dancing Deer has won national recognition for its delicious baked goods, its sustainable business practices, and its community impact initiatives. [Read more]
2. Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap, Vista, CA, “All-One”
Open a bottle of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Liquid Soap, and you’ll be taking part of a story that dates back over 150 years. It’s a story that began with a family of soapmakers in the Jewish community of Heilbronn, Germany. The story includes the holocaust, an escape from a Chicago mental institution, an attempted crucifixion on a bridge in 1945 Woodstock, and, well, it’s a complex epic that has passed through five generations of the Bronner family. [Read more]
3. Masonite, Tampa, FL, “Helping people walk through walls”
Not many American companies today can trace their history back for 92 years, or link to inventor Thomas Edison. But, Masonite, a publicly-traded company (NYSE: DOOR) can follow its roots back to Laurel, Mississippi, and its founder William H. Mason, an apprentice of Thomas Edison. [Read more]
4. Stonyfield, Londonderry, NH, “Yogurt on a mission
While Stonyfield is best known for making yogurt, yogurt wasn’t the way the founders of Stonyfield thought they’d change the world. In 1983, co-founders Samuel Kaymen and Gary Hirshberg were trying to help family farms survive, protect the environment, and keep food healthy through their nonprofit organic farming school. [Read more]
5. Igloo Products Corp., Katy, TX, “Culture of commitment”
If you’ve ever gone on a family picnic, packed a boat for a day of fishing, or brought drinks to keep the soccer team hydrated, there’s a good chance an Igloo® ice chest was involved. Igloo chests, along with the iconic red and white coolers, are just two of more than 550 products made by the 70-year old Igloo Products Corporation in Katy, Texas, just west of Houston. [Read more]
6. W.L. Gore and Associates, Newark, DE, “Conscious culture”
Imagine operating a manufacturing company with no core product, no bosses, and a democratically-elected CEO. How long do you think it would survive? [Read more]
7. Sticker Giant Longmont, CO, “Open book management”
One political bumper sticker based on the indecision of the Bush/Gore presidential election in 2000. That’s how CEO John Fischer launched StickerGiant from his basement 17 years ago. Today, the company employees nearly 40 people and processes about 18 miles of sticker material every week. [Read more]
8. TGI Fridays, Dallas, TX, “The gift of time”
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. [Read more]
9. Great Little Box Company, Richmond, BC, “Big Outrageous Xtravaganza (BOX) Goals”
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. [Read more]
10. Meltwater, San Francisco, CA, “MER values”
The year was 2001, just after the dotcom bubble burst. Jorn Lyseggen had a big idea for a new business, a coffee machine, some used furniture, and some borrowed office space in a Norwegian shipyard shack. [Read more]
11. SEMCO Partners, São Paulo, Brazil, “Big company with (almost) no rules”
If your employees could vote you in or out as their leader, would you keep your position?
That was just one of the many questions that Ricardo Semler started to ask when he went to work for his father’s company, SEMCO Partners, in the late 1970’s. [Read more]
12. Thinking Putty, Philadelphia, PA, “Shaping culture one tin at a time”
If you ask Aaron Muderick what he does for a living, he’s likely to say, “Professional Kid”. Muderick, a fidgety computer scientist, was constantly playing with Silly Putty while thinking at work. One day, he borrowed some textbooks from a friend who had just completed her Ph.D. in chemistry. He learned enough from the borrowed books to teach himself how to invent what he calls “Thinking Putty”. [Read more]
Interested in getting more content like this? Subscribe to CEE News!
CEE News is designed to help you with the challenges you face every day by sharing infographics, white papers, best practices, and spotlighting businesses that are getting it right. I hope you’ll subscribe to CEE News and it becomes a resource that continually adds value to your walk as a leader. If I can be of assistance in any way, please don’t hesitate to reach out!
![Doing Well by Doing Good: 12 Companies that Got it Right in 2017]()
Leadership
Hoping to catch up on your reading over the holidays? Why not put some of the top titles of 2017 on your wish list? We’ve curated a collection of books published in 2017 that stand out from the pack.
These titles aren’t only for CEO’s. Some are deeply reported feats of investigative journalism that are just compelling stories, no matter what your day job.
1. Janesville: An American Story, by Amy Goldstein
What it’s about. Pulitzer Prize winner Amy Goldstein has spent years immersed in Janesville, Wisconsin where the nation’s oldest operating General Motors plant shut down in the midst of the Great Recession, two days before Christmas of 2008.
Why pick it up. Janesville is a microcosm of what connects and divides people during economic upheaval. It’s not just a 21st century Midwestern story. It’s an American story.
2. Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Acceleration, by Thomas L. Friedman
What it’s about. In his most ambitious work to date, New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman shows that the age of dizzying acceleration is leading to dystopian disruption. Friedman exposes the tectonic movements that are reshaping the world today and explains how to get the most out of them and cushion their worst impacts.
Why pick it up. With his trademark vitality, wit, and optimism, Friedman shows that we can overcome the multiple stresses of an age of accelerations—if we slow down, if we dare to be late and use the time to reimagine work, politics, and community.
3. Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft’s Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone, by Satya Nadella
What it’s about. Microsoft’s CEO tells the inside story of the company’s continuing transformation, while tracing his own journey from a childhood in India to leading some of the most significant changes of the digital era.
Why pick it up. It’s a study of how the human ability to empathize will become ever more valuable in a world where the torrent of technology will disrupt the status quo like never before.
4. The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone, by Brian Merchant.
What it’s about. Veteran technology journalist Brian Merchant reveals the inside story you won’t hear from Cupertino-based on his exclusive interviews with the engineers, inventors, and developers who guided every stage of the iPhone’s creation.
Why pick it up. To get a roadmap for design and engineering genius, an anthropology of the modern age, and an unprecedented view into one of the most secretive companies in history.
5. The Inspiration Code: How the Best Leaders Energize People Every Day, by Kristi Hedges
What it’s about. Informed by quantitative research and thousands of responses from leaders at all levels, Hedges reveals that inspiring communication isn’t about grand gestures. Instead, those who motivate us most do a few things routinely, consistently, and intentionally.
Why pick it up. Eye-opening and accessible, The Inspiration Code dispels common myths about how leaders communicate, and guides them in cultivating qualities that authentically excite.
6. Principles, by Ray Dalio
What it’s about. Ray Dalio, founder of one of the most successful hedge funds in the world, shares a painful, public experience from his leadership journey, and how he found the humility to balance his audacity through radical truthfulness and radical transparency.
Why pick it up. While the book brims with novel ideas for organizations and institutions, Principles also offers a clear, straightforward approach to decision-making that Dalio believes anyone can apply, no matter what they’re seeking to achieve.
Download our Top Leadership Books for Your Christmas Wish List infographic and start shopping!
Question: What leadership book is on your wish list this Christmas?
![Doing Well by Doing Good: 12 Companies that Got it Right in 2017]()
Leadership
Leadership can be complex. It’s especially true this time of the year when we’re focused on tying up annual goals and planning for a strong 2018. It’s easy to get caught up in the busy-ness of it all and forget about the people-side of leadership.
As an antidote to the complex, we recommend five classic children’s books to add to your leadership library, and remind you of enduring lessons you learned when life was a bit simpler.
1. Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll
Leadership Quote: “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.”
Key Takeaway: At a fork in the path deep in woods, Alice asks the Cheshire cat which road she should take. The cat’s response reminds us to keep ourselves and our teams focused on the destination. Don’t veer off track by the daily drama.
2. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl
Leadership Quote: “So shines a good deed in a weary world.”
Key Takeaway: Willie Wonka rewarded young Charlie with his wondrous chocolate factory after Charlie decided to leave the everlasting gobbstopper at the factory instead of sharing it with Wonka’s competitor, Slugworth. Future leaders need more than skills and experience, they need to be a good culture fit and share the core values of your organization.
3. Winnie the Pooh, by A.A. Milne
Leadership Quote: “You are braver than you believe. Stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.”
Key Takeaway: Part of leader’s job is to make decisions that others are not willing to make, to take risks, and step out of our comfort zones. Leadership can test our belief in ourselves. Pooh’s friend, Christopher Robin, reminds us to stay true to our inner compass and keep moving along the path that positively impacts the world.
4. Horton Hatches the Egg, by Dr. Seuss
Leadership Quote: “I meant what I said and I said what I meant . . . An elephant’s faithful one hundred percent!”
Key Takeaway: Horton the Elephant endures a number of hardships, but keeps his word to sit on the egg of Mayzie while she steals away for a permanent vacation in Palm Beach. Be a role model for staying true to your word. It’s the quickest way to earn respect and build a culture of trust.
5. Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White
Leadership Quote: “By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle.”
Key Takeaway: Charlotte, the spider, reminds us that leadership is not a permanent position. It’s a season. We can use our leadership season to take from others, or to help others become better versions of themselves. The choice is ours.
Stay focused, surround yourself with people who share your core values, stay true to your inner compass, model the behavior you want to see in others, and remember that leadership is a season. The lessons we learned in the pages of some of our favorite childhood tales can continue to guide us along our leadership journey.
Question: Which of these five takeaways do you find most compelling?
Interested in getting more content like this? Subscribe to CEE News!
CEE News is designed to help you with the challenges you face every day by sharing infographics, white papers, best practices, and spotlighting businesses that are getting it right. I hope you’ll subscribe to CEE News and it becomes a resource that continually adds value to your walk as a leader. If I can be of assistance in any way, please don’t hesitate to reach out!
![Doing Well by Doing Good: 12 Companies that Got it Right in 2017]()
Leadership
Over the past 10 years, I have been honored to explore and debate the essence of power with Dr. Tony Baron. Specifically, how power impacts leadership, how leadership impacts culture, and, ultimately, how culture impacts performance.
With a double doctorate in psychology and theology and decades of executive coaching experience with Fortune 100 companies, you can imagine the depth and breadth that Tony adds to the subject. We are currently co-authoring a book that combines Tony’s scholarship and my straight talk about the challenges faced by today’s leaders. Meanwhile, I will be sharing guest posts by Tony from time to time to give you a taste of what it’s like to have an amazing colleague and friend like Tony Baron. – Sheri Nasim
By: Dr. Tony Baron
Demonstrating modesty has been underrated. Yet, when you read some significant thinkers in the corporate world like Jim Collins or in the church world like Larry Osborne, they think it is the essential ingredient of good leadership.
In 2013, Harvard Business Review published an article on how to cultivate humility as a leader. Authors John Dame and Jeffrey Gedmin suggested that every developing leader should be taught these 6 principles of humility:
1. Know what you don’t know. The higher you climb up the proverbial corporate ladder, the greater the temptation it is to believe that you are the smartest person in the room. But deep down, you know that you don’t have all of the answers. You may not even have all of the questions. Know when to defer and delegate.
2. Resist falling for your own publicity. Part of the leadership role is to maintain a positive outlook. Your confidence boosts that of your team and your customers. While it’s important to have a positive outlook, it’s just as important to correctly assess reality. Keep your spirits high, but your judgment at an even keel.
3. Never underestimate the competition. No matter how smart you are, how many hours you are willing to put in, or how creative your team is, do not allow a residue of hubris to form around your culture. There is always competition for your customer’s attention.
4. Embrace and promote a spirit of service. The term servant leadership was coined by Dr. Robert K. Greenleaf in the late 1960s. In his book, Servant Leadership: A Journey Into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness, Greenleaf writes, “The great leader is seen as servant first, and that simple fact is the key to his greatness.” Use you power for the sake of others.
5. Listen, especially to the weird ideas. Dame and Gedmin write that “the most imaginative and valuable ideas tend to come from left field, from some associate who seems a little offbeat, and may not hold an exalted position in the organization.” Step outside of your inner circle to get a fresh perspective.
6. Be passionately curious. Leading during uncertainty and change requires a healthy dose of curiosity. Without curiosity, we are unable to sustain our attention, we avoid risks, and, essentially, stagnate. Embrace curiosity and promote it among your team.
Larry Osborne, in his 2013 article in Leadership Journal, believes that every leader must avoid the 3 curses of leadership failures: the curse of the spotlight, the curse of hype, and the curse of leadership ADHD. Osborne recommends keeping leadership hubris in check by leading with a low profile, underselling and over delivering, and keeping the team focused on strategic goals.
The first task of any leader is to assess reality correctly. You can’t do that well without humility.
Question: What specific actions are you taking to remain humble as a leader?
Dr. Tony Baron is Distinguished Scholar-In-Residence at Center for Executive Excellence and an internationally recognized speaker, writer, corporate consultant, professor and the San Diego Director of Azusa Pacific University Graduate School of Theology.
Dr. Baron is the author of six books, including The Art of Servant Leadership and a workbook manual co-written with noted author and business leader Ken Blanchard. Throughout his career, he has worked with hundreds of companies including Ford Motor Company, Coca Cola Company, Warner Brothers Studios, and Boeing, among many others.
Uncategorized
Putin issues international arrest warrant for George Soros.
Black Lives Matter thug protests President Trump with selfie . . . accidentally shoots himself in the face.
Passenger allowed onto flight after security confiscates his bomb.
All three of these headlines were widely reported last year. Two of them were fake. Can you tell which one is true?*
Fake news has become part of the world’s daily news cycle. Many people now operate in virtual gated communities or information echo chambers. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to separate fact from fiction in both the political and popular press. To combat fake news, a growing body of websites and apps give consumers the ability to stop to fact check before sharing headlines in the social media feeds.
But the echo chamber effect is not limited to our smart phones. The same theory can apply to leaders. The higher we climb up the org chart, the greater our tendency is to spend most of our time with our direct reports. By operating in our own virtual gated community at work, we can severely limit our ability to assess reality correctly.
Author and Center for Executive Excellence’s Scholar-in-Residence, Dr. Tony Baron, suggests that leaders must be intentional about building community. To build an inner circle to help you assess reality correctly, Dr. Baron offers this criteria for choosing your community:
1. Choose those in your community who are with you the most, not those who see you the least.
2. Choose those in your community who can see you at your worst, not just those who see you at your best.
3. Choose those in your community with whom you are willing to eat or play, not just those you are willing to work with.
4. Choose those in your community whom you respect for their integrity, not just those you admire for their accomplishments.
5. Choose those in your community who are willing to listen to understand, not just those who want to be understood.
6. Choose those in your community who care about you as a person, not just those who care about you professionally.
7. Choose those in your community who are willing to ask the tough questions, not just those who provide the easy answers.
8. Choose those in your community who maintain confidentiality, not just those who are compelling in personality.
Every one of us needs a small number of people in our inner circle. People whom we can be honest with. People who will be honest with us. Because it’s just too easy to fall for our own fake news.
*The correct response to the opening quiz was the third headline. A teenage passenger in Edmonton, Canada, was allowed to board a flight after a pipe bomb found in his bag was confiscated by airport security. He claimed to have forgotten the device was in his bag after making it with a friend for fun some months before.
Question: What are you doing to assess reality correctly as a consumer of news and as a leader?
