Margaret Heffernan is a former CEO of five businesses, author of five books in which she explores business and effective leadership, and a part-time lecturer at the University of Bath School of Management in England. She gave a series of TED talks that touch so much of what I found to withhold people from giving their best, that I feel I have to share these presentations with you.
Organizations are often run according to “the super chicken model,” where the value is placed on star employees who outperform others. And yet, this isn’t what drives the most high-achieving teams. Business leader Margaret Heffernan observes that it is social cohesion — built every coffee break, every time one team member asks another for help — that leads over time to great results. It’s a radical rethink of what drives us to do our best work, and what it means to be a leader. Because as Heffernan points out: “Companies don’t have ideas. Only people do.”
We could not provide better arguments as to why firms should (at least temporary) eliminate the obstructions from structural and functional silos by establishing Customer Round Tables.
You may also like – How to deal with uncertainty? and Heffernan: Dare to Disagree
