It's happening again - another founder returning to the helm when things aren't going well. Can Schultz do for Starbucks what Jobs has done for Apple?

Today's Wall Street Journal (January 8, 2008) notes that Schultz plans to improve the customer experience and streamline management. His objectives include "re-igniting the emotional attachment with customers." Sure sounds like culture to me.

One of the most common challenges with the transition from the founding CEO to his replacement is that the culture has developed around the CEO's personality, style, and values. Some of that may be conscious and explicit but much of it "just happens." The organization often isn't aware of the specific assets and liabilities of the culture until well into the transition to the new CEO.

In the case of Starbucks, some of the internal practices (aka culture) that made Starbucks a huge success slowly drifted away under new leadership. Like Jobs at Apple, Schultz has a distinct style, his mojo, that helped make the organization successful. Can he reignite the organization with that style? My bet would be yes, he can. And that's a solid start to getting the numbers back on track.

How is your personal leadership style reflected in the way your organization does business? If you had a "culture balance sheet," what would your assets and liabilities be?

Linda Ford, PhD

Labels: change, corporate culture, leadership

OK, I've been traveling a lot these days. You know what that means --- I'm reading USA Today because that's the paper that shows up on my doorstep at the hotels.

Today I read that only 39% of companies provide formal performance feedback on a quarterly or biannual basis. The rest provide annual feedback or none at all. The good news is that's up from 29% five years ago. The bad news is that organizations are leaving a lot of potential on the table by passing up so many good opportunities to improve performance. Frequent and open dialogue about strengths and weaknesses is vital to your organization's success.

Regardless of the rhythm of your company's formal system, how often do you have a focused one-on-one dialogue with members of your team about their successes and their development opportunities?

I challenge you to find the time to have that conversation at least once a month and see what a difference it makes. Let me know how it goes.

Labels: change, corporate culture, leadership, learning