525 CEOs Would Like a Word with You

The New York Times’ Adam Bryant wrote “The Corner Office” column” for ten years. During that time he interviewed 525 CEOs without once asking them about the economics of their businesses. In his farewell column he summarizes what he learned about these leaders.This article is longer than what I usually post, and I think it will be well worth your time. Mr. Bryant does a nice job of extracting three recurring themes shared by those he interviewed and what he learned from them about the most the most important quality in any leader.

Most people only know one CEO close up (the one who runs their company) and base their view of success on a sample size of one. Mr. Bryan’s sample, while not strictly scientific in its analysis, offers a much broader base to learn from. A few moments studying his final column  “How to Be a CEO From A Decade’s Worth of Them” would be time well spent for anyone aspiring to the role of CEO, or aspiring to be a leader in their own life.

Elon’s Axe

Tesla and its founder Elon Musk have become icons of innovation, quality and culture. A significant blow to that culture, however, may have just been delivered in the form of a well-known management tool being used like an axe instead of a scalpel.

Vistage Speaker Gary Markle looks at the recent use of company-wide performance reviews by Tesla to drive a large layoff and muses Tesla uses performance reviews to lay off hundreds, but at what cost? 

Inside Out Planning

People will take risks and work harder only if they understand why they’re doing what they’ve been asked to accomplish.  Dr. Stephen Sweid offers a neat graphic that could help your team understand your strategic plan and to use in other areas of organizing their lives. Too often executives present planning as “top down” and therefore not intuitive to people at lower levels in the organization. Maybe planning could be easier to grasp if it were “inside out” instead. Click here for a graphic and brief overview to ‘Demystify Strategic Planning.‘

Econ Recon

Electric Cars: When or If? Electric cars portend great, and to many, fearful economic consequences. Dr. Alan Beaulieu of ITR Economics suggests that changes may be significant, but their timing may be VERY different than that suggested by the media.  Check out his quick recap of what’s ahead for the electric auto industry. 

What’s Ahead for the Fed: Some could argue that there is an office in Washington with a level of influence equivalent to that of the Presidency: that of Fed Reserve Chairman. Dr. Brian Wesbury shares his view of what the economy needs and his corresponding choice for a new Fed Chair to replace Janet Yellen, whose term is ending.