An article from McKinsey & Co. states businesses that seek external social contributions should look in the mirror.  Improving workers' job satisfaction, according to the article, could be the most important thing businesses do. It's a defining moment. How can companies conserve cash and aggressively restructure? Simply keeping employees happy can boost profitability and enhance organizational health. Click for article

Nurturing talent will help companies survive the global COVID-19 pandemic, according to Peter Cappelli and Sydney Finkelstein.  Cappelli, a professor of management at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and Finkelstein, a professor of management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, recently recorded a podcast on superbosses.  The key, they said, is finding the best talent, then pushing them to continue learning and hitting goals. Click for podcast and transcript   

The COVID-19 pandemic is a challenge for businesses and their CEOs: an abrupt dislocation of how employees work, how customers behave, how supply chains function, and even what constitutes business performance, according to the McKinsey & Co. report "The CEO Moment: Leadership for a New Era." Confronting the moment, CEOs have shifted how they lead. The changes have great potential beyond this crisis. The report explores four shifts in how CEOs are leading that are also better ways to lead a company: Unlocking bolder ("10x”) aspirations. Elevating their “to be” lists to the same levels as “to do” in their operating models. Fully embracing stakeholder capitalism. Harnessing the full power of their CEO peer networks. If these shifts become permanent, according to the report, they could hold the potential to recalibrate organizations and how they operate, companies' performance potentials, and their relationships to critical constituents. Click for report

Most efforts to transform organizations will fail, writes Michael Beer, the Cahners-Rabb Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus, at Harvard Business School. "And, in most cases, these efforts will miss the mark not because the new strategy is flawed, but because the organization can’t carry it out," according to Beer's recent article on strategy. To survive the pandemic, Beer writes, leaders must examine six hidden barriers that make their companies ineffective: Unclear values and conflicting priorities Ineffective senior team Ineffective leadership styles Poor coordination Inadequate leadership development Inadequate vertical communication Click for article  

Economic leadership expert David Nour, in a Forbes article, writes, "In a recent conversation with a long-time friend and colleague, Mark Kaiser, we discussed what it would take to climb out of the current economic crater. "Mark, as a successful entrepreneur and CEO of high-growth businesses, has spent his entire business life focused on interpreting incomplete and imprecise data that were directional. In our experience, lack of immediacy in available and actionable data can often lead to invalid assumptions, reliance on outdated tools in uncharted waters, and poor decisions regarding the strategic path." Nour and Kaiser explain three steps they think will be critical for businesses. Click for article