Comments on: What makes a company great?

By: themadpeacock

themadpeacock — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:04:21 +0000

the Economist (October) has a great piece entitled “the three habits.. of highly irritating management gurus” and in it he points to what you have found here. So many of these management books champion companies that fail catastrophically 2-5 years after the book comes out.

there is no spoon..

By: winethinker

winethinker — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:37:14 +0000

I definitely think that there is a matter of trust involved. I don’t even think that some leaders are doing it subconsciously. I’ve been explicitly told at times not to share information with my staff because of the fear of leaks. This always put me into an uncomfortable position. I am not a fan of the “need to know” school of management. I would rather share more than less. For instance, I think financial difficulties are important to convey to all members of the staff. There may be some people who just cannot have that level of risk in their personal lives. It is unconscionable for leaders to make those decisions on behalf of their employees. I have found that the more transparent the leadership is, the less employees will talk and the less they speculate in public forums. Granted, it is important for some of that information to be presented as strictly confidential. There also has to be a healthy respect between the leadership team and the line employees – and that respect has to flow in both directions for this to work.

By: themadpeacock

themadpeacock — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:56:58 +0000

This is/was a very good book and I think you picked up on an interesting cultural point. In 2009 leadership has become synonymous with moral boosting and disseminating the “all is well” message. Do you think the rise of social media has driven this?

In 1995 managers could sit down with employees and say, “look; we are in a tough spot and its not looking good. I need your help to turn this around” and be relatively comfortable it was a private conversation. Now with half the staff updating their facebook, linkedIn or twitter status twice during the meeting are managers “controlling the message”?

Are they subconsciously treating employees like press reporters?