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Operational Leadership

By KyoungHee Choi As leaders, have you ever felt that you are carrying too many heavy bags on your shoulders? Felt overwhelmed by circumstances around you? Often, leaders are trying to fill in their busy life with more than they can carry or don’t feel comfortable to be in a “Comfort Zone” position. While the concept of “Minimalist Leadership” is relatively new, the word and principles of “Minimalism” has been around for quite a while. We have all heard the saying “Less is more” popularized by minimalist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. I personally love his architectural style and this principle. In Asian

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By Madison Hanscom, PhD Organizations must continually change and adapt in order to sustain improvement in this dynamic world. Without change, companies risk falling behind and losing the competitive edge. Researchers are developing a picture of what leads to successful change and what factors contribute to failure, because unsuccessful change can be disruptive and expensive. For example, it is known that having a proper diagnosis before the change, forming a clear vision, mobilizing energy, removing barriers, developing knowledge and skills for the change, setting goals, and implementing feedback are all crucial components of successful transformation. Another critical component is supportive leadership. What

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By Madison Hanscom, PhD It is common to assume that executives, CEOs, and highly successful entrepreneurs just ‘have it all’, but many of these individuals are silently suffering. Executives can have a lot on their plate. They might feel responsible for the ups and downs of employees. They might work long hours and feel pressure to make the company more successful. They also can feel very isolated, like they can’t be vulnerable without looking weak. Despite having a great deal of weight on their shoulders, it is important that leaders are doing well both psychologically and physically. When executives are doing well,

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By Madison Hanscom, PhD Employees want an active voice in your company, and leadership should be interested in what they have to say. The people are the culture, and it is in the best interest of leadership to know their perspective. Because it is often difficult to touch base with every employee, organizational surveys are a great way to listen more efficiently. Pulse surveys are brief, targeted feedback assessments that are administered frequently (e.g., quarterly, monthly) to gauge a variety of constructs like employee engagement, perceptions of change, or satisfaction with an initiative. To allow for speed and simplicity, pulse surveys usually

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By KyoungHee Choi While culture is widely recognized as an important lever to grow brands, increase productivity, improve revenue while improving safety and customer experience outcomes, many organizations still find to drive and manage something that feels intangible. In challenging times, it may seem hard to invest time and resources into something that can’t easily be measured, like “company culture”. Especially when the very survival of your company itself is at stake. However, culture is far more than an abstraction. It is critical to bringing your values to life and to driving business success. In challenging times it’s even more important

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By Madison Hanscom, PhD Growth mindset is the notion that who we are as a person (e.g., our character, abilities, intelligence) is malleable and capable of being developed with effort. At the opposite end of the spectrum is a fixed mindset, which describes when an individual feels their talents and abilities are predetermined and not flexible. Those with a more fixed mindset might feel some people “have it” and others “don’t”. Research on this topic began in education, where it was observed that students with a growth mindset approached difficulty as a challenge, and they were more likely to persevere with

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