by Daria Steigman on August 17, 2010
There’s a long, fascinating profile of Nike CEO Mark Parker in Fast Company. The article talks about Parker’s bio, corporate culture, and where’s he’s taking the company and how. One line about his management style really stood out:
[Bill] Bowerman’s coaching technique–he created personalized training programs for each athlete, unusual back then–informs Parker’s management style to this day. “I spend a good deal of time coaching executives now,” he says. “Each person needs something different to succeed. It’s a Bowerman approach.”
So true, and yet so often overlooked.
Parker also talks about the importance of focusing on people rather than putting people into organizational chart boxes. You can read the entire article here.
Photo by jaqian (Flickr).
Tagged as:
Bill Bowerman,
Fast Company,
Innovation,
Mark Parker,
Nike
by Daria Steigman on June 2, 2010
Check out this terrific interview with Saks CEO Stephen Sadove in the New York Times. He talks about mentors, valuing people, focusing on processes, and what it takes to be a successful leader. For example:
“I grew up in a world of lots of interesting people, and you really valued learning from them and talking to them. I grew up valuing lots of different kinds of opinions and people of different backgrounds. I was relatively comfortable with adults because we always were entertaining. So you never worried about being uncomfortable in a setting like that, or shy.”
Or this gem:
It’s the people, the leadership, the culture and the ideas that are ultimately driving the numbers and the results… What I try to teach people is, don’t ask the first question in terms of numbers. Let’s talk about the people, let’s talk about the culture, let’s talk about the ideas and the innovation.”
There’s some good stuff here.
Photo by bigcityal (Flickr).
Tagged as:
Innovation,
Leadership,
Saks,
Stephen Sadove
by Daria Steigman on March 11, 2010
by Daria Steigman on January 26, 2010
During the IABC/Washington panel discussion on 2010 trends, I posed the following question: Is 2010 the year we break down silos? In retrospect, I asked the wrong question.
Breaking down silos is critical, but it’s not about whether we do it–it’s about how. In the communications world, I’m finally hearing more conversation around “integrated” again, but I still see media separated from PR separated from marketing within organizations. Agencies are often worse (think digital practice groups, for example).
When will companies be ready to stop organizing their operations around tasks? And how might this new look take form?
Photo by accent on eclectic (Flickr).
Tagged as:
Business,
Innovation,
Silos,
Workflow
