A fascinating article. An HBR look at leaders who set out to reshape their companies to compete in a fast-evolving digital world and how they often come to a daunting realization: To transform their organizations, they must first transform themselves. 71 percent of 1,500 executives surveyed in more than 90 countries said that adaptability was the most important leadership quality in these times. Respondents also ranked creativity, curiosity, and comfort with ambiguity as highly desirable traits. "It’s the soft skills that I argue are not soft anymore," said one chairman of a major company.Key advice for leaders trying to recalibrate:1. Be a catalyst, not a plannerLeaders must be comfortable moving forward with ambiguous and incomplete information about what’s happening around them and the potential impact of their actions.2.Trust and let got’s important to shake the command-control model, which depends on hierarchy and rules. Leaders must learn to exercise influence without relying on formal authority.3. Be an explorer" An explorer searches with an ambition in mind: What questions must they answer to lead their businesses today and tomorrow? Where might they find the answers?4. Be courageousLeaders need to learn to experiment, iterate, and pivot themselves if their organizations are going to be able to thrive. In order to get comfortable with the inevitable missteps and unconfirmed hypotheses of experimentation, leaders need a new attitude toward risk.5. Be presentThe best leaders stay present and emotionally engaged, communicating openly and authentically. 6. Live values with convictionMany employees will resist changing their mindsets, behaviors, and skills unless they appreciate the value of doing so; leaders need to be clear about not just what they’re doing, but why they’re doing it.

What's it like when the interview process has sunk to the very bottom of the well. Careful, your answer is timed and monitored by a friendly Bot who will let you know if you pass muster. They know. Could this process sink any lower and be even more dehumanizing than it already is? I suspect there is still plenty of room left to go. Great insight from an HBR article. A brave new world, indeed.

The Mid-Atlantic Regional District Export Councils Host Exporter Roundtable

Caveat emptor or Buyer Beware is once again something we would do well to remember. Investors and believers, in their rush to embrace ESG (Environment, Sustainability and Corporate Governance) the stamp of good corporate behavior and dutifully kneel at the foot of these titans of industry.

A fascinating look into what makes people want to learn.

It was bad enough when prognosticators hinted at Christmas being disrupted by a new COVID surge. We hurriedly covered our children's ears not wanting to frighten them of such a terrible prospect. Now it looks like there's a new Scrooge on the block and one that could prove more daunting than a global health alert.

China is showing little tolerance with its own companies violating local laws. It's not that they want to be good corporate citizens. Bluntly put, it's a shrewd, strategic move on their part after all, China has a strong presence in the DRC’s mining sector which has abundant copper and cobalt resources.

Interesting article on the scramble by Central Asian states to cozy-up with Russia and China. Following that sucking sound of US troops leaving Afghanistan, the regional political-military equation is being disrupted, to say the least and Russian-Chinese military cooperation in Central Asia likely will intensify as a result of the U.S. withdrawal.

While managers may realize that the great work-from-home experiment was surprisingly effective, they also believe that it hurt organizational culture and belonging. Think of it, perhaps as a veiled command and control issue. They are hungry for employees to be back in the office and for a new normal that’s somewhat more flexible but not dramatically different from the one we left behind.

Interesting article and worth the read. Freedom to allow for technology companies to grow, innovate and thrive in China's command and control environment may have come face-to-face with a disturbing reality.

In need of yet another supply-chain headache? Of course you are!

Is President Macron's goal of 25 unicorns by 2025 a realistic goal?