Business in Focus: Meltwater

A closer look at companies executing leadership excellence The year was 2001, just after the burst of the dotcom bubble. 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. The big idea? Outside insight. Rather than rely on data contained inside a company’s reporting systems, Lyseggen believed that business strategy would be increasingly shaped by insights from the growing world of online data outside of those systems. That big idea, along with $15,000 in seed money, has helped Meltwater ...

Sticky Solutions

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? (more…)

Message From Our Founder

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. (more…)

Business in Focus: Great Little Box Company

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. (more…)

Sticky Solutions

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? (more…)

Message From Our Founder

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. (more…)

Business in Focus: TGI Fridays

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

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 ...
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