Leaders and Strategies in Real Life: 12/19/17

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Instead of studying leadership, why not spend some time studying leaders and strategies in the wild? You can learn a lot from leadership experts, but you always see the leader and what he or she does through the expert’s personal lens. Supplement that learning with studying real leaders in real life situations and draw your own conclusions. The posts in this series will help you.

Every week I’ll point you to articles by and about real leaders in real situations and to articles about how real companies are faring in the marketplace. Read them. Think about them. Draw your own lessons and conclusions from them. Then try to apply those lessons in your own real life.

This week I’m pointing you to articles about turnarounds, leadership development, healthcare mergers, Chamath Palihapitiya, and Patagonia.

From the Boston Consulting Group: Comeback Kids: Lessons from Successful Turnarounds

“Stories of 11 of the most dramatic turnarounds in the world over the past decade show what can happen when decisive leaders set ambitious goals and make smart bets.”

From Leo Vartorella: Developing leadership at every level: 4 questions with Scripps Health CEO Chris Van Gorder

“Many executives claim to value leadership development, but few take steps as structured and focused as Mr. Van Gorder. He created three formal leadership academies within Scripps, with each focused on the skills and responsibilities of different leadership levels. The Scrips Leadership Academy, founded in 2001, is the oldest program and focuses on the highest-level employees. The Employee 100 began in 2010 and the Front Line Leader Academy 2015. A total of 1,190 Scripps employees have graduated from the three academies combined.”

From Joe Carlson: Health care megamergers are aiming to revamp how care is delivered

“UnitedHealth Group, Aetna and CVS Health attempt to revamp who does what in delivering health care.”

From Bill Snyder: Chamath Palihapitiya: Why Failing Fast Fails

“Chamath Palihapitiya says he never logs into Facebook, and he calls venture capitalists ‘soulless cowards.’ Yet he’s held high-level positions at the social network and is the founder of Social Capital, a venture capital firm focused on social-impact startups. A man of outspoken, sometimes profane, opinions, he rejects Silicon Valley’s conventional wisdom about ‘failing fast’ and inveighs against short-term profit seeking.”

From Jesse Lyn Stoner: The Risk When a Values-Driven Company Like Patagonia Takes a Stand

“We don’t see many examples of companies taking a stand for their values. My own observation is that most companies are driven by profits, not values. Most leaders see values and profits as belonging to different realms – values on the ‘soft’ side and profits on the ‘hard’ side of business.”

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