Harvard Business Publishing

Steve Jobs is back in the headlines, which got me thinking about this unique leader's legacy — and what, if anything, the rest of us can learn from how Jobs does his job. Whoever uttered the words, "trust the art, not the artist" must have had Steve Jobs in mind. There's no doubt that the Apple CEO will go down as one of the most creative, visionary, and high-impact leaders of his generation — or any generation. How many corporate executives can make a legitimate claim to have reshaped not just one industry but four: computing (the Mac), music (the iPod), mobile communications (the iPhone), and movies (Pixar). And how many CEOs can make the legitimate claim that they achieved their wealth and power by making tens of millions of people so unbelievably happy that they worship the company and its products with near-religious devotion? So In terms of the... Keep Reading »

As leaders, we have no control over how fast markets grow or how wisely banks lend. But we do control our own mindsets and "animal spirits" — the phrase coined by John Maynard Keynes in the depth of the Great Depression. If all you've got is a spreadsheet filled with red ink and dire forecasts, it's easy to be paralyzed by fear and resistant to change. But if you can summon some leadership nerve, then hard times can be a great time to separate yourself from the pack and build advantages for years to come. Indeed, when it comes to creating the future, the only thing more worrisome than the prospect of too much change may be too little change — especially in an economy where there are too many competitors chasing too few customers with products and services that look too much alike. Now is the time to rethink... Keep Reading »

For months, I have argued that a down economy can be a great opportunity for companies to try something different or start something new. I don't mean to minimize the pressures and setbacks that are part of unleashing real change in tough times. If all you've got is a spreadsheet filled with red ink and dire forecasts, it's easy to be paralyzed by fear. But if you've got some leadership nerve, and can muster a few good ideas, then hard times can be great times to separate yourself from the pack and build advantages for years to come. Don't believe me? You can read it for yourself in The New Yorker. In a wonderful column last month, James Surowiecki reminded us of the bold strategic moves that repositioned companies and redefined industries during periods of turmoil. He told the story of how Kellogg, during the Great Depression, "doubled its ad... Keep Reading »

The one growth business in this shrinking economy is speculation about where MBAs and other elite students will flock now that Wall Street is a vast wasteland. "What will new map of talent flow look like?" wondered a piece last month in the New York Times. The tentative answer: towards government, the sciences, and teaching, "while fewer shiny young minds are embarking on careers in finance and business consulting." Just five days after that article, the Times was at it again, chronicling the difficult career choices for business students, including one former Goldman Sachs intern who started her own shoe-importing company, and a Wharton grad contemplating rabbinical studies. (He wound up in real estate.) Now, I understand the use of students from elite business schools as a proxy for "talent" in the business world. But as the economy experiences the most deep-seated changes in decades, maybe it's time to change... Keep Reading »

My friends at the Washington Post, where I am a member of the "On Leadership" panel, asked me to consider a sports-related question which is really a leadership-related question: In this period of March Madness, should big-time college coaches take pay cuts to respond to the tough times? You can find my full essay here. But what follows captures the essence of my argument. Consider these two scenes for a revealing look at the face of leadership in difficult times — and a surprising twist on how we read those faces. Back on February 21, after his team beat the visitors from the University of South Florida, University of Connecticut men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun fielded a press-conference question from a gadlfly blogger. Given the state's economic crisis, this blogger asked, would Calhoun, as the state's top-paid employee, consider returning some of his $1.6 million salary? "Not one dime," Calhoun... Keep Reading »

Download video transcript (PDF) In lean times, there's nothing more valuable than a great new product idea. Why not invite your customers to share their creativity with your company -- and turn the best ideas into actual products! That's what legendary shoe designer John Fluevog has done, with a project he calls open-source footwear.... Keep Reading »

Among Chicago politicians, on the heels of the corrupt (albeit amusing) tenure of impeached governor Rod Blagojevich, the talk is all about "pay-to-play" politics. Among frequent flyers, on the heels of a steep economic downturn that continues to put financial pressure on the carriers, the talk may soon turn to "pay-to-pee" airlines. Yes, you read that right. (By the way, I pride myself on having coined the term). The BBC recently conducted an interview with Michael O'Leary, the combative, controversial, and endlessly colorful CEO of Ireland's Ryanair. In the interview, O'Leary said the airline has contemplated installing coin slots in on-board bathroom doors and charging customers one British pound to use the facilities. O'Leary and his colleagues are nothing if not disruptive. They have reshaped air travel in Europe, with a business model that is relentless about cutting costs. Indeed, Ryanair makes Southwest Airlines look downright extravagant. A few years... Keep Reading »

It's not often, in these dark and dreary days, that a good-news story stops me in my tracks. But today's Boston Globe carries a front-page article about a gesture so simple, so warm-hearted, and so meaningful, that it invites you to set aside the economic meltdown and the plunging Dow — and gets you thinking about the power of beautiful gestures in these ugly times. It turns out that Boston's legendary Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where sick kids get some of the best care in the world, is building a big new facility. Every morning, in bitter temperatures and biting wind, ironworkers show up for work and move the building a little closer to completion. No news there. What is news is what happens before the shift begins: "It has become a beloved ritual at Dana-Farber," the Globe reports. "Every day, children who come to the clinic write their names on... Keep Reading »

Jeff Jarvis, one of the best-known pundits in the world of new media, is famous for his unflinching critiques and tough-minded reviews of how big companies do business--from horror stories about customer service at Dell to the struggles of the mainstream journalism to adjust to a changing competitive landscape So it's a little unnerving to read his new book, an excerpt of which appears in BusinessWeek, and discover that this voice of righteous indignation has fallen madly and hopelessly in love with the most powerful company on the Internet. His book is called What Would Google Do? The title, of course, is a riff on the ubiquitous bumper sticker sported by devout Christians, "What Would Jesus Do?" It's a good title, since Jarvis writes about Google with the worshipful tone of a true believer--someone who sees CEO Eric Schmidt and cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin as a sort of... Keep Reading »

I've never attended the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos. I'm not much of a skier, and part of me worries that all the hot air will melt the snow on the mountains and trigger an avalanche that wipes out the village. But I like to follow the daily dispatches from a safe distance, and the diarists on HarvardBusiness.org have done a great job capturing the goings-on. Yet I must confess, something about this year's proceedings have left me cold (pun intended)--and now I know why, thanks to Slate and Newsweek columnist Daniel Gross. Dan's dispatch captured the glaring (and self-serving) intellectual blind spot among the participants. Here's how he put it: "At least with regard to finance and business, the consensus [at Davos] seems to be clear: Success is the work of Great Men and Great Women, while failure can be pinned on the system." In... Keep Reading »