StrategyDriven Podcast Special Edition 15 – An Interview with Susan Bloch and Philip Whiteley, authors of How to Manage in a Flat World

StrategyDriven Podcasts focus on the tools and techniques executives and managers can use to improve their organization’s alignment and accountability to ultimately achieve superior results. These podcasts elaborate on the best practice and warning flag articles on the StrategyDriven website.

Special Edition 15 – An Interview with Susan Bloch and Philip Whiteley, authors of How to Manage in a Flat World explores the challenges and solutions to effectively managing multinational teams. During our discussion, Susan Bloch and Philip Whiteley, authors of How to Manage in a Flat World: 10 Strategies to Get Connected to Your Team Wherever They Are share their insights with us regarding:

  • overcoming communications challenges associated with geographic separation, time-zone differences, and cultural dissimilarities
  • leveraging cultural diversity to benefit the team and improve its outcomes
  • efficiently transitioning the team through its forming, storming, norming, and performing phases of development
  • providing feedback and performance reviews

Additional Information

Susan and Philip’s book, How to Manage in a Flat World, can be purchased by clicking here.

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About the Authors

Susan Bloch, co-author of How to Manage in a Flat World, has coached top teams in many of the FTSE100 and Fortune 500 companies across the globe over the past 20 years. A truly global citizen, she has lived and worked in five countries; South Africa, North America, Israel, the United Kingdom and India. She is currently Chief Learning Officer at the Aditya Birla Group. Prior to that she worked at Reliance Industries in the Retail Division, as Chief Culture Officer. Before coming to India she was Partner and Head of Thought Leadership at Whitehead Mann in London where she was operating as an executive coach, working with executive teams and conducting board effectiveness reviews. Previously she was global head of executive coaching for the Hay Group. A Chartered Psychologist, Susan has co-authored, How to Manage in a Flat World, Employability, and Complete Leadership (translated into Mandarin, Vietnamese, Russian, Polish, Turkish, Greek) and has produced a number of research publications.

Philip Whiteley, co-author of How to Manage in a Flat World, is an author and journalist, specializing in management, particularly the areas of leadership, motivation, and strategic people management. He has written numerous articles for The Times, Personnel Today and Coaching at Work among other titles, and has appeared on BBC Newsnight discussing the portrayal of the workplace in the media. He is author of People Express, Motivation, Unshrink the People and Complete Leadership and his books have been translated into six languages. Now based in the UK, Philip has previously worked in Latin America.

StrategyDriven Podcast Special Edition 12 – An Interview with Nat Stoddard, author of The Right Leader

StrategyDriven Podcasts focus on the tools and techniques executives and managers can use to improve their organization’s alignment and accountability to ultimately achieve superior results. These podcasts elaborate on the best practice and warning flag articles on the StrategyDriven website.

Special Edition 12 – An Interview with Nat Stoddard, author of The Right Leader explores the challenges and solutions to selecting executives who possess the needed skills and experiences while also being a good fit with the organization’s culture. During our discussion, Nat Stoddard, author of The Right Leader: Selecting Executives Who Fit and Chairman of Crenshaw Associates, shares with us his insights regarding:

  • importance of an effective executive transition and gaps in the contemporary selection process
  • why hiring organizations should identify actions a new executive needs to take in addition to results to be achieved
  • impact of culture alignment between the organization and new executive on the transition’s success
  • steps the hiring organization should take to prepare for and execute a more effective executive selection and transition

Additional Information

Complimenting the invaluable insights Nat shares in The Right Leader and this special edition podcast are the additional resources accessible from his website, The Right Leader (www.TheRightLeader.com). Nat’s book, The Right Leader, can be purchased by clicking here.


Nat Stoddard, author of The Right Leader, is Chairman of Crenshaw Associates, a New York-based consulting firm specializing in career and transition management for senior executives. Nat is the former CEO of World Kitchen, a leading kitchen products manufacturer and former Chairman, President, and CEO of GE’s Canadian appliance affiliate Camco, Incorporated. To read Nat’s full biography, click here.

Management and Leadership – Managing Your Virtual Team

People used to think that “working from home” was code for “getting paid to eat Oreos in pajamas”, but with the recent recession, getting paid at all isn’t anything to take chances with. If you’re engaged in virtual project management you can’t physically just drop in to check on your workers – at least, not without a lot of gas, possibly a jet, and the risk of some extremely unpleasant surprises. But with the right web based project management software it’s entirely possible to keep tabs on your employees – without them setting their Twitter status message as 1984.

The main problem with online collaboration is that your staff, by definition, must have a reliable access to the Internet. Aka “The Infinite Distraction Engine.” Administering employees online can be like herding cats, except the cats are all in different countries, and invisible. The cats also have access to YouTube. How can you remotely manage them?


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Elmer Thomas blogs primarily at Thinking Serious which focuses on programming, design, business and productivity content for tech entrepreneurs living in a 2.0 world. That is, when he is not tickling his entrepreneur itch or consulting. To read Elmer’s complete biography, click here.

StrategyDriven Podcast Special Edition 11 – An Interview with Marshall Goldsmith, author of Succession

StrategyDriven Podcasts focus on the tools and techniques executives and managers can use to improve their organization’s alignment and accountability to ultimately achieve superior results. These podcasts elaborate on the best practice and warning flag posts on the StrategyDriven website.

Special Edition 11 – An Interview with Marshall Goldsmith, author of Succession explores the personal issues that arise during executive succession and how to overcome them; achieving a positive outcome for the departing leader, the successor, and the organization. During our discussion, Marshall Goldsmith, author of Succession: Are You Ready? and co-founder of Marshall Goldsmith Partners, shares with us his insights regarding:

  • characteristics of a successful executive transition
  • reasons executives struggle with the succession process
  • benefits and focus of coaching for the successor and senior leadership team
  • examples of successful executive turnovers

Additional Information

Complimenting the tremendous insights Marshall shares in Succession and this special edition podcast are the additional resources accessible from his website, Marshall Goldsmith Library (www.MarshallGoldsmithLibrary.com). Marshall’s book, Succession, can be purchased by clicking here.


Marshall Goldsmith, author of Succession, is co-founder of Marshall Goldsmith Partners, an executive coaching firm dedicated to developing business leaders. Dr. Goldsmith is recognized as a leading authority in helping leaders achieve positive, lasting behavioral change for themselves, their people, and their teams. He has coached scores of top executives in major corporations and wrote the number one best seller, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There. In 2006, Alliant International University recognized Dr. Goldsmith’s achievements by naming its schools of business and organizational psychology the Marshall Goldsmith School of Management. To read Marshall’s full biography, click here.

Management and Leadership Best Practice 1 – Open, Honest, Timely Communications during Times of Uncertainty

StrategyDriven Management and Leadership Article | Business Communications | Timely CommunicationsPeople, regardless of their position, experience anxiety relative to the unknown. Is my job secure? Will I be able to provide for myself and my loved ones? and Will I lose my home? are just a few of the questions that preoccupy the minds of all organization members during uncertain times. Like all distractions, these self survival fears steal time and focus from the job at hand, negatively impacting productivity. Unlike other distractions, these fears are nearly impossible to ignore and will only subside once conditions become more predictable. Therefore, it is critically important that the manager-leader minimize the magnitude and duration of uncertainty by providing subordinates with as much clarifying information as possible. The manager must communicate.


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