Here are choice articles on hot leadership topics culled from the business schools, the business press and major consulting firms, to start off your work week. I’m pointing you to articles about leadership, strategy, industries, innovation, women and work, and work and learning now and in the future. Highlights include the top 10 business trends that will drive success in 2015, the 2015 best companies for leaders, the man who invented Scotch Tape, American workers still need their email, ten New Year’s resolutions for CEOs, and A Values Approach to Advancing Women in Leadership.

Be sure to look for dots that you can connect.

Note: Some links require you to register or are to publications that have some form of limited paywall.

Thinking about Leadership and Strategy

From Ian Altman: Top 10 Business Trends That Will Drive Success In 2015

“In 2015, you have an opportunity to take some risks, change how you market and sell, as well as define your niche in your market. Here are my predictions for ideas and trends that will shape sales and business development for top performing companies in 2015.”

From Martin Roll: Ten New Year’s Resolutions for CEOs

“Ten core tenets for a successful global strategy in the coming year.”

From Ken Carroll and J.P. Donlon: The 2015 Best Companies for Leaders

“Each year since 2005, Chief Executive has sought to identify those companies that excel in leadership development. In partnership with Chally Group Worldwide (chally.com), a sales and leadership research and consulting firm headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, we canvas world-class companies through a questionnaire and interviews to learn what they are doing to identify and nurture people three or more levels down the chain from the CEO.”

Industries and Analysis

RetailWire Discussion: Are stand-alone loyalty approaches anachronistic?

“Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from the Mark Heckman Consulting blog.”

From the Economist: Pharmaceuticals: Going large

“IN PHARMACEUTICALS, the 20th century was the era of the small molecule. The industry thrived by identifying a steady stream of relatively simple compounds that treated lots of people, patenting them and making a fortune. In the early 21st century it has become harder for drugmakers to find new cures quickly enough to replace those on which the patents are expiring.”

From Ashley Lutz: How Nordstrom Became The Most Successful Retailer

“Here’s how Nordstrom is beating retailers from Macy’s to T.J. Maxx.”

Innovations and Technology

From Michal Lev-Ram: Disney CEO Bob Iger’s empire of tech

“Bob Iger has spent much of his near decade at Disney wearing an additional corporate hat: CTO. The result? He has brought the coolest innovations from Lucasfilm, Pixar, Marvel, and ESPN into a single galaxy.”

From Zachary Crockett: The Man Who Invented Scotch Tape

“On a surface level, Scotch tape may seem like just about the most boring product in the world. Though it can be found in nearly 90% of American households and is used for everything from wrapping gifts to ‘repairing’ ripped dollar bills, we’ll forgive you for never being curious about its origins. But stick with us: this gets interesting!”

From Mukesh Gupta: How iteration really does transform fear of failure

“In an organization, one of the biggest hurdles in fostering a culture of innovation is the fear of failure…”

Women and the Workplace

From Bernice Ledbetter: A Values Approach to Advancing Women in Leadership

“Women make up half the workforce in nearly every country around the world, even still, labor shortages call for increased participation of women workers at all levels of the organizational hierarchy. The urgency for managing the talent for that half of the workforce suggests it is time to change the equation, to bring more women into positions of influence and leadership. Recent findings from research conducted on women, their leadership and values offers new insight on strategies to advance women in leadership and why this is necessary if organizations hope to create and sustain economic competitive advantage.”

From Wharton: What Do Women Need? A Little Bit of Overconfidence

“‘Im just lucky.’ ‘I was in the right place at the right time.’ ‘I’m not ready for that promotion.’ According to Good Morning America reporter Claire Shipman and BBC anchor Katty Kay, these are phrases used almost exclusively by women when talking about their careers. In their new book, The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance—What Women Should Know, they explore why women lack confidence and what it means for their careers.”

From Mary Johnson and Caroline McMillan Portillo: Mo’Ne Davis, Mary Barra and Michele Roberts had some of the most memorable quotes of 2014

“But there were good quotes, too, that came out of 2014. Empowering quotes. From sports icons such as new San Antonio Spurs Assistant Coach Becky Hammon to corporate giants such as GM’s Mary Barra. So we decided to collect some of our favorites from the past year — including some from a few noteworthy men (Nadella included). The whole process left us smiling, empowered and motivated for what we hope will be a phenomenal 2015”

Work and Learning Now and in the Future

From John Revill: Robots Step Into Brewery, Bakery Roles

“ABB, Fanuc Corp. and other robot makers are counting on Rothaus and a variety of small and medium-size companies to fuel the next leg of their growth. Historically driven by automobile companies and electrical-and-electronics makers, robot companies are finding many smaller businesses want to automate dirty and repetitious tasks that were typically handled with good old-fashioned elbow grease.”

From Jason Del Rey: Forget Facebook and Snapchat: American Workers Still Need Their Email

“About six out of 10 working Americans surveyed recently consider email ‘very important’ to their jobs, making it the most critical digital tool in the American workplace today, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center. About a quarter of the workers surveyed say mobile phones are critical to their work, while 35 percent say land-line phones are. A measly four percent consider social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter ‘very important’ in the workplace. (Count tech journalists like myself among that tiny group.)”

From the Economist: The on-demand economy: Workers on tap

“Yet this on-demand economy goes much wider than the occasional luxury. Click on Medicast’s app, and a doctor will be knocking on your door within two hours. Want a lawyer or a consultant? Axiom will supply the former, Eden McCallum the latter. Other companies offer prizes to freelances to solve R&D problems or to come up with advertising ideas. And a growing number of agencies are delivering freelances of all sorts, such as Freelancer.com and Elance-oDesk, which links up 9.3m workers for hire with 3.7m companies.”

More Leadership Posts from Wally Bock

Your New Year Do’s Checklist

If you want the New Year to be better, you must do things differently.

The Five Best Business Books I Read in 2014

Here’s a list of the best business books I read in 2014.

By and About Leaders: 12/30/14

Pointers to pieces by and about Kate White, Chris O’Malley, Derek Jenkins, Brent Frei, and David Dillon.

From the Independent Business Blogs: 12/31/14

Pointers to posts by Ed Batista, Kate Nasser, Lolly Daskal, Chris Edmonds, and Mary Jo Asmus.

Stories and Strategies from Real Life: 1/2/15

Pointers to stories about creating a Zappos-like culture, ai Design Group, taking a publication off paper and online, Udemy’s culture, and Balcones.

Writing well gives you the edge in business and in life. If you want to get a book done, improve your blog posts, or make your web copy more productive, please check out my blog about business writing. My coaching calendar for authors and blog writers currently has time open. Please contact me if you’re interested.