Motivating people

The corporate president stared out the window of his skyscraper office. His forehead was furrowed in anger and puzzlement. His fingers drummed the arm of his chair with a speed that signified intense frustration. The other executives in the room waited expectantly. Each had said his piece. Each had come to his and her own […]

The primitive, emotional parts of our brains have a powerful influence on the choices we make. Now, neuroscientists are mapping the risk and reward systems in the brain that drive our best—and worst—decision making.

Bonuses and other forms of incentive compensation are an effective motivator of executives to achieve ever higher earnings per share. The drive to produce short-term results, however, often influences management to forgo investment in capital equipment and R&D that would benefit the corporation several years hence even more than improved earnings next year would. The […]

Tips for staying calm through a stressful stretch.

Network groups for black and Hispanic employees had been an unqualified success. Now a Christian group was forming—and Bill Thompson didn’t know what to think about it.

When companies cause emotional pain through nasty bosses, layoffs, and change, a certain breed of “healing” manager steps in to keep the gears moving. They are toxic handlers—unsung corporate heroes who save the day, but often pay a high price.

Why some teams are more successful at meeting deadlines, hitting targets, and growing revenues.

For the last decade, the Gallup Organization has surveyed the people of China, as both consumers of goods and employees of the companies that produce those goods. The data provide a unique picture of changing consumer attitudes, market opportunities, and management challenges.

Apparently, my post on the “lunch lesson” rubbed some people the wrong way. When I opined that I found that leadership = responsibility = not always getting to eat lunch, this was, for some, the most heinous concept short of universal healthcare for illegal aliens. The comments that disagreed with me fell into a few […]

Using the results of a survey of 380 companies in 34 industries, this author examines three basic types of compensation plans: salary, commission, and combination (salary plus commission). Most companies in the study favored a combination plan, but such plans have some disadvantages to offset their obvious attractiveness. The author sets out the possible reasons […]

In Conspiracy of Fools: A True Story, Kurt Eichenwald relates how Enron’s leaders engaged in massive book-cooking with little interference from the dozens of managers, lawyers, and advisers who had a pretty good idea of what was going on. Similarly, at Parmalat, employees not involved in the Italian dairy giant’s fraud apparently were aware of […]

How Michelin gives its frontline teams the power to make a difference

A framework for balancing stress and rewards.

Are your employees engaged in moving your company forward? Here’s how to release their untapped talent and energy.

The finding: People whose performance peaks in the morning are better positioned for career success, because they’re more proactive than people who are at their best in the evening. The study: Biologist Christoph Randler surveyed 367 university students, asking what time of day they were most energetic and how willing and able they were to […]

The “bounded awareness” phenomenon causes people to ignore critical information when making decisions. Learning to expand the limits of your awareness before you make an important choice will save you from asking “How did I miss that?” after the fact.

For decades the difficulty of motivating salespeople has been frustrating sales and marketing managers. To the most effective ones, two things are clear: one, the job is difficult; two, there is no one simple solution. Believing that “good salespeople are born, not made,” many managers recognize that recruiting is important. Others holding that “if you […]

At this large GM plant the union and management jointly seek to change the meaning of work itself

(Editor’s note: Listen to a podcast with Tony Schwartz, the author of this post) Above all else, a leader is the chief energy officer. The most fundamental job of a leader is to recruit, mobilize, inspire, focus, direct, and regularly refuel the energy of those they lead. Energy, after all, is contagious — especially so […]