Leading Edge 120

Hybrid work – the flexibility to work from both home and office – has become a determining factor in job candidates’ decisions on accepting your offer…right up there with salary, vacation time, and other benefits. So, Greg Moran says, leaders must be definitive about their policies on WFH vs RTO!

Boeing's latest problem -- a door popping off a 737 in flight -- has its roots in practices started before the current CEO took office. So who's to blame? As with all good leaders, the CEO is taking full responsibility instead of casting blame. When you're in charge, the onus for solving problems is on you, no matter where their roots are. It's nothing new -- remember Harry Truman's desk sign of "The Buck Stops Here"? -- but today's leaders can sure use a refresher!

Last week's news from Davos contained an example of leadership vision that didn't get much mainstream coverage: Argentinian president Javier Milei's speech. Though his economic views are still in debate, Greg Moran found Milei's dedication to his vision a strong leadership lesson: do you believe in your company's vision strongly enough to share it far and wide, no matter how controversial? If not...

Lloyd Austin made the big leadership news story last week. And it gives us a leadership lesson that's very nonpartisan: leaders MUST communicate! When the Secretary of Defense's staff doesn't communicate his absence to the Commander in Chief, it's a huge risk to the nation. Similarly, as Greg Moran points out, not communicating with your team puts your department or organization at risk.

Last week's culmination of pressure on former Harvard University president Claudine Gay to resign presented a major leadership lesson for the rest of us: accountability is yours, whether you created it or not. Greg Moran admits it's not fair, but it IS part of the burden you bear when you work at the top. (And part of why it's lonely up there...)
 
Want a completely different perspective on leadership accountability? Check out our podcast on conscious leadership with Raj Sisodia and Sudhanshu Palsule at https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-f4fup-137bdce !

CEO Niraj Shah's end-of-year e-mail last week to Wayfair staff generated all kinds of publicity -- but not the kind Wayfair wants. Shah may have had some good points, but they were lost in the form, timing, and target of his note. Greg Moran has pointers for other CEOs so they don't make the same mistakes...and, instead, engender followership on their teams.To learn about great ways to communicate effectively, check out our full-length interview with filmmaker Chris Nolan; that podcast is available at https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-ngdbb-135f093 .

Colorado says no; Michigan says yes. States are already deciding whether Donald Trump can be on their ballots. But yea or nay, Greg Moran wonders if they’re deciding too quickly.
What’s the leadership lesson here? For one thing, when you’re making decisions or policies on an unprecedented situation, take the time to make that decision carefully, looking ahead to future implications. It’s similar to last week’s lesson from the three university presidents in Congress and their free speech policies.
To learn more about how judges reason through their decisions, check out our sister podcast with a former Supreme Court justice of Canada at https://bit.ly/JudicialLeadership .

When three university presidents danced around the limits of their free-speech policies last week, some glaring leadership lessons jumped out at Greg Moran. For one thing, think through the policies you create to make sure they won’t have unintended consequences down the road. It’s the old carpenter’s adage of “measure twice, cut once” applied to policy-making!

Tech start-up darlings seem to be in a plague: every week, another firm that had dazzled investors goes belly-up...or in lifeless survival mode. The common problem amongst them? Greg Moran points out they had poor business plans or products that just couldn't handle today's economic headwinds. Greg shares lessons to learn so YOUR firm keeps the unicorn magic!

One universal maxim for leadership: your team is watching you. As a leader, your followers emulate your behavior, not your words -- so your ethics and morality matter. In that light, Greg Moran comments on lessons to learn from the ouster of Representative George Santos from Congress last week.