I am pleased to bring to your attention a concept of company culture captured by Edgar Papke in his book True Alignment (AMACOM, 2014). Company culture includes how members are empowered and rewarded, how compensation and promotion is used, how hiring occurs, and the focus of employee development. Culture offers insight into how teams are created and defines cooperation and collaboration.

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast”, a phrase originated by Peter Drucker (a successful management consultant), is an absolute reality! Organizations disconnecting the two are putting their success at risk.  Organizational culture eats strategy for breakfast, lunch and dinner so don't leave it unattended.

Customers are people.  Whether you are a small corner store or a huge multi-national corporation, somewhere along the process a human being makes a decision to purchase your product or service – or not.

Read more: Four Elements of Organizational Culture

Are you thinking about starting a Strategic Planning process?  Here are some questions to get you started:

The Deliverable

What "itch" is this scratching?  What do you want to learn, expereince and/or generate through this planning process?

Is there a clear scope for the plan?  What is up for discussion and what is out of scope?

Who will be the intended audience(s) for the final product?

How polished does the final product need ot be?

How much implementation detail will be addressed collectively during the planning process?

Read more: Preparing for your Strategic Plan

Top 10 Considerations for Strategic Planning in Uncertain Times

Healthcare has entered a period where confusion and uncertainty will be the overarching context, where the performance challenges and financial pressures on organizations will mount, and where more constant and ever-present change will be the new normal. With healthcare policy, insurance coverage, and economics headed for change with a new administration, coupled with the already turbulent healthcare environment, many healthcare leaders are concerned about how to develop reliable strategies for the future. Is effective strategic and financial planning even possible with so many variables up in the air? Yes, and one could argue it is even more critical to have a clear path forward during unsettled times.   

By Laura P. Jacobs, MPH, President, GE Healthcare Camden Group

Read more: Ten Considerations for Strategic Planning

Board Development - Seven Tips For An Effective Board Development Program

Research into board development found that high performing boards generally have some form of board development program in place but many nonprofit organizations do not have a development program for their board members. A nonprofit board is a team and, like any team, training is needed to develop and perform at its best. But there are two other reasons why board development is important:

Providing board members with an opportunity to learn and develop has been found to build motivation.
There is a direct relationship between board performance and organizational performance which means that improving board performance can be expected to lead to an improvement in the performance of the organization.
For this article, we draw on the opinions of experts in this field to provide practical advice for creating a development program for your board.

Read more: Board Development

Otto Scharmer’s book gives a different take on the role of leadership. He introduces the concept of “presencing.” This is a blend of the words “presence” and “sensing.” Presencing signifies a heightened state of attention that allows individuals and groups to shift the inner place from which they function. When that shift happens, people begin to operate from a future space of possibility that they feel wants to emerge. Being able to facilitate that shift is, according to Scharmer, the essence of leadership today.

Learn more about Theory U at the Strategies for Managing Change website.

Happiness + Meaning = Well-being

What is quality of life?  Research indicates that "good days" include having experience of autonomy, competence and connection.

Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi formalized the study of positive psychology in 2000 and the field and grown exponentially since then.  Key concepts include developing your feelings of optimism and gratitude.  Volunteering is good for you!

Life satisfaction is also linked to having a sense of meaning for your life. 

Read more: Well-Being

This article explains some ways in which leadership is different from management. Leadership is needed throughout the organization.

Why Do My Individual Contributors Need Leadership Development? by Douglas Riddle