Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

A few months ago brought the new  Harvard Business Review Family Business Handbook , a comprehensive guide for how to build and sustain a successful enduring enterprise.  If you are in a family business, serve as a silent partner or board member, or are contemplating becoming part of a family business, this handbook is essential reading. And, even if you aren’t working in a family business, you’ll find the book enlightening because many best practices and learnings are transferrable to a non-family business.  Family businesses represent an estimated 85% of the world’s companies, and in the US, 5.5 million of these businesses employ 62% of the workforce. Understanding how these businesses work and how they contribute to the economy is critical for post-pandemic recovery. Therefore, that’s another reason to read the book.  Book authors  Josh Baron  and  Rob Lachenauer  take readers deep behind the scenes to share: The secrets to longevity for family-owned businesses. How to decode the fa

“Marketing today is at the brink of unprecedented disruption”, explains,  Raja Rajamannar , author of the book,  Quantum Marketing . “An explosion of game-changing new technologies, data and cultural shifts will render traditional marketing frameworks and strategies ineffective, and turn the function upside down.”  Rajamannar’s book is all about the mastering the new marketing mindset for tomorrow’s consumers.  He takes you beyond product marketing, emotional marketing, digital marketing and mobile and social marketing, into what he terms quantum marketing .  You’ll learn how to : Replace advertising with better ways to efficiently engage consumers at scale. Hyper-personalize marketing with AI. Go virtual and immersive with everything from VR-AR product demos to gamification. Reach all five human senses, with Multi-Sensory Marketing and Sonic Branding. Invest in partnerships to capitalize on new opportunities beyond their immediate reach. Quantify impact with data, but never at the exp

Heed this advice from Julian Birkinshaw , author of the book,  Becoming A Better Boss , on how to be a better leader. Strive to  answer “Yes” to these three questions : Do you invest your time in things that help others to succeed? Do you invest in projects that will help the company in the long run, even if you won’t be around to get any credit for their success? Are you prepared to try out a new way of working that may fail, even if you risk looking foolish?

Years ago when I started my leadership and management blog, I posted the question “ What’s The First Leadership Book You Would Give To a New Manager ?” within a leadership discussion forum on LinkedIn. That question generated 603 comments and 690 book recommendations.   Some people suggested more than one book.   Some during the course of the 18 months of the active discussion made the same book recommendations a couple times.   And here are the results : ·      412 different/unique books were recommended. ·      The Top 20 recommended books, collectively, received 250 of the total recommendations. ·      Two authors –  Stephen R. Covey  and  John C. Maxwell  each have two books in the Top 20. ·      Discussion members recommended other things instead of giving a book about leadership to a new manager, such as: o     Interviewing everyone in the company with whom they will directly work. o     Giving a book about  management  first. o     Mentoring the person for a period of time befor

 “ Purpose is the why behind everything within an organization ,” says author John Baldoni , of the book,  Lead With  Purpose . Baldoni also believes that  it is up to leaders to make certain that organizational purpose is understood  and acted upon. And, to harness the talents of their employees, leaders must recognize their responsibility to instill purpose in the workplace. Other recommendations include: Make purpose a central focus Instill purpose in others Make employees comfortable with ambiguity Turn good intentions into great results Make it safe to fail (as well as prevail) Develop the next generation According to Baldoni, purpose forms the backbone of what an organization exists to do; upon which you can build vision and mission. To define an organization’s purpose, you must ask three questions: 1.  What is our vision  — that is, what do we want to become? 2.  What is our mission  — that is, what do we do now? 3.  What are our values –that is, what are the behaviors we expect

Timely, critical, instructional and enlightening are how I describe the book,  Work Disrupted ,  by  Jeff Schwartz .  “I wrote this book to share my view that the future of work, a source of fear for so many, is actually about the opportunities, the resilience, and the growth that we can leverage to do things differently,” explains Schwartz.  He adds, “My work on this book had been well underway before the global pandemic took hold in the early 2020. However, there’s no doubt that it brought a new sense of urgency to my exploration of the future of work that had begun seven years earlier.”  Future of Work  offers guidance to individuals, business leaders and institutions so they can make smart choices that will help shape their future of work .  That future will be impacted by the changes in technology, including automation, robotics, and artificial intelligence (AI). And, by new employment models, including freelancers, gig workers, and crowds. The future will impact how we work, wher

Every business leader should read the book,  The Business of We , by  Laura Kriska . However, read it only once you’ve committed yourself to creating a welcoming and productive work environment for all.  This book couldn’t have come at a more important time because as Kriska shares, “a new approach to diversity, cultural difference, and inclusion is urgently needed – a time for business leaders to create true synergy among the diverse and often fiercely divided members of their workforce.”  With 30 years of experience bridging gags in diverse workplaces, and as a sought-out lecturer and a TEDx speaker, Kriska provides expert insights and actionable strategies in her book to help you:  Effectively repair division. Recognize warning signs. Proactively create opportunities.   And, more specifically and most importantly,  how to create WE-builders to help close any gap between people who are separated by ethnicity, language, race, religion, or any factor that divides .  Kriska explains tha

"Truly accountable leadership is the only way to build an organization that can survive and thrive in our increasingly complicated world," says  Vince Molinaro , author of his revised and updated bestseller,  The Leadership Contract . More specifically, Molinaro believes that a new set of leadership expectations is redefining how each of us will need to lead in the future. He explains that as a leader you will need to take accountability to: Align and engage Take an enterprise-wide perspective Build relationships Master uncertainty Develop other leaders Model the values And, to be a truly accountable leader, Molinaro says that you must serve the  five core obligations of leadership : Yourself Your customers Your organization Your employees Your communities One of my favorite parts of the book are the  Gut Checks for Leaders  at the end of each chapter. The Gut Checks list critical questions to ask yourself, such as: Do you lead every day with a sense of clarity regarding your

If you want to build the psychological body armor to achieve personal resilience, then the book,  Stronger , is a must-read for you.  That body armor consists of  five factors of personal resilience : active optimism decisive action moral compass relentless tenacity interpersonal support According to the authors, these  five factors of personal resilience  are keys to improving your work habits and output in the workplace, and to achieving overall satisfaction from life. Backed by compelling scientific findings and packed with powerful stories of resilience in action,  Stronger  teaches you how to gain an edge on making sound decisions under pressure, bounce back from setbacks and layoffs, and motivate peak performance in others as well as yourself, Each chapter includes  self-assessment questions  and  homework  for choosing one thing you'll do the next day to help you begin to develop each of the five factors of your personal resilience body armor. In addition, the authors explai

A former co-worker shared a great blog post with me awhile back about the most common complaints  about the annoying things bosses do without even realizing it. Here are the highlights : 1. Making social events unofficially required. 2. Pressuring employees to donate to charity. 3. Calling employees who are on vacation. 4. Holding endless meetings. 5. Not making hard decisions. 6. Delegating without truly delegating. 7. Hinting, rather than speaking straightforwardly.  

There are  eight specific actions  business leaders can take to  show that they value their employees , according to  Andrew Leigh , author of the book,   Ethical Leadership -- Creating and Sustaining an Ethical Business Culture . Those  eight behaviors  are: Attention  -- Pay attention to what people say to show your interest. Listen  -- Make time to hear what colleagues, peers and employees have to say to show you care. Positive Language  -- Find words and phrases to show employees they're needed.  Examples are, "We couldn't have accomplished this without you," "That was really useful." Document  -- Put praise in writing to increase its impact.  Make clear where the credit belongs. Micro Sessions  -- Create two-way communication sessions. Visits  -- Schedule visits to teams and work areas. Stories  -- Share stories that highlight unusual contributions and provide your personal response to them. Invite  -- Ask people to contact you directly with their issue

  Sports  heroes  mention their mentors at award ceremonies. Successful business people thank their mentors at career milestone celebrations. Young adults who become accomplished acknowledge their mentors when asked who was influential in their success.  Mentoring is indeed powerful. Most managers have been both a mentor and a  mentee  at some point in their careers . Sometimes, though, not everyone understands the important difference between informal mentoring and formal mentoring.  Formal mentoring is structured, intentional, and short-termed. It also requires the support of top management. In addition to the informal mentoring that is surely taking place at your company/organization, consider establishing a formal mentoring program. 

Here are some of my favorites quotes from John C. Maxwell 's book,  The 5 Levels of Leadership  that I believe should become a must-read book by any workplace/organizational leader: Good leadership isn't about advancing yourself.  It's about advancing your team. Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others. Leadership is action, not position. When people feel liked, cared for, included, valued, and trusted, they begin to work together with their leader and each other. If you have integrity with people, you develop trust.  The more trust you develop, the stronger the relationship becomes.  In times of difficulty, relationships are a shelter.  In times of opportunity, they are a launching pad. Good leaders must embrace both care and candor. People buy into the leader, then the vision. Bringing out the best in a person is often a catalyst for bringing out the best in the team. Progress comes only from taking risks and making

  Today brings a timely and compelling book, Choosing Courage , by Jim Detert , where he shares how to increase the chance of accomplishing something positive when acting with courage at work, while decreasing negative personal consequences.   You’ll learn the tangible and concrete steps to take, using a courage ladder (a personal roadmap of sorts), for how to have difficult conversations, engage in challenging situations, and embrace opportunities for courageous action in your workplace and in your own life.   Detert explains that his new book is a must-read for you if you want to:   Do more to protect others at work —whether colleagues, subordinates, or customers. Do more to solve important problems at work , whether they be inefficiencies that waste time or money, internal processes that sap morale, or product or service choices that lead to dissatisfaction among current customers. Pursue opportunities more frequently , whether that means taking “stretch assignments” or pursui