To state the completely obvious, without a few core components, no organization can endure the destructive nature innately a part of capitalism:

• Without the proper foundation, an organization will be destined for eventual failure.
• In our organizations we need to focus on a much more diverse workforce so we don’t miss opportunities due to our cultural biases
• Management doesn’t cut it alone any more – need to be a LEADER who has strong management skills.  Often in organizations we do little to bring out the best in individuals, much less to be a team – from a management level, typically you find groups of moderately functional individuals but NOT a team or team focus
• The ideal organization is something that many strive for but few achieve – roadmap is there but it is HARD WORK – good enough ends up being your enemy
• Don’t be foolish enough to believe that you have to accomplish everything yourself – great people bring about greatness, but it’s not a solo act
• Great organizations become great only when leaders lead, place a strong emphasis on both people and performance and are customer driven (1^st OR 3^rd party).
• Performance, however, has come to mean the financial statement and results returned, not the process along the way – in other words, we’re myopic in our obsession with results (and perhaps not even key ones) to the point where we ignore performance
• More rather than less is being demanded of employees instead of quality
• Employees are cognizant of the fact that leaders are de-evolving and no longer leading but micromanaging
• As confidence is lost, employees lose flexibility and change becomes improbable
  • As a result, organizational and people issues take/waste more time than before
• While the joke about radio station WIIFM is still relevant, it is being augmented/brought to the forefront by today’s organizations and Gen Y/Z
• How do we fix it?
  • Train leaders to lead … but that requires both the people and the programs in place
  • Check reality regularly – get the pulse of your team … but also take a passive approach to monitoring (eg # of sick days/timing of sick days)
  • Make sure your leaders never lose touch with their people – keep your office door open and be “on the floor” as much as you can.
  • Make CULTURE a priority/key performance indicator by dedicating a team to it and then following through on their action items