Culture

The Biggest Change I Ever Managed: A Cultural Tale [Today’s Tuesday Reading is from Susan Foster, IT Business Manager at Bowdoin College. She is a MOR program alum.  Susan may be reached at [email protected] or via LinkedIn.]   One sunny afternoon, during an average week, while doing average daily business, I got a call from my […]

[Today’s Tuesday Reading is from Brian McDonald, President of MOR Associates.  Brian may be reached at [email protected].]   Just imagine if all the people who have been through a MOR leadership experience within your university could form a cohesive community of change agents who collaborate to propel the initiatives needed to make transformational progress versus incremental. […]

This week we’re going to do something different and start with the results of last week’s survey.   From Last Week  Last week, we asked: Which of these practices is most important to you? 41% said building relationships 27% said weekly planning 19% said owning your calendar / defensive calendaring 13% said delegating whenever possible […]

[Today’s Tuesday Reading is from Laura Patterson, Leadership Coach and Consultant at MOR Associates.  She previously was CIO at the University of Michigan. Laura may be reached at [email protected].] More than 19 million workers have left the workplace since April 2021, a record pace disrupting business everywhere. Forty percent of employees said they are at […]

[Today’s Tuesday Reading is from Brian McDonald, President of MOR Associates.  Brian may be reached at [email protected].] Last week’s Tuesday Reading discussed what trends influencing the future of work may mean for universities and healthcare systems.  As we gradually recover from the pandemic, employees are reflecting on their ability to work from home productively and […]

[Today’s Tuesday Reading is from Brian McDonald, President of MOR Associates.  Brian may be reached at [email protected].] During this current health crisis it may be helpful to take a few minutes to step back and think about the leadership challenges and responsibilities that are inherent in this increasing critical threat. Before you begin this, it […]

Today’s Tuesday Reading is an essay by Matthew E. Mooney, Assistant Dean for Teaching, Learning and Technology the at Pennsylvania State University’s Smeal College of Business. His essay first appeared as a leaders program reflection last fall. [Matt may be reached at <[email protected]>.]    I’ve so appreciated previous reflections. It’s comforting to see that while we are […]

Last week the Tuesday Reading, On Being Grateful,1 focused on showing appreciation and called attention to a quote from Robert Emmons, University of California, Davis psychologist and author: “Feeling gratitude starts off with the realization of what we have received from others and what it has cost them.”2   This led me to suggest four ways that […]

Two days from today on the fourth Thursday of November, people in the United States will celebrate a national day of Thanksgiving. A similar holiday is celebrated on the same or other days by people in many nations.   In the United States, a day set apart for giving thanks has been observed, most years, […]

… to be truly effective, you need to be!   Bill Taylor, Robert J. Smith Professor of Accountancy at Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Business and an expert on subjective performance evaluation, has said it this way: “… I’m convinced that if you truly want people to elevate their performance, you have first to […]

Recently on TV, I was attracted to a Cascade dishwasher detergent commercial featuring child actress Sierra Richards, who seeing her “mother” rinse off the dishes before putting them in the open dishwasher asks, “just what does the dishwasher do?” This question is an example of thinking critically about what the “mother” in the commercial was doing. […]

… they surround us   No matter where you look, you will find both unwritten and written rules – rules at work, rules that are personal to you, rules for your family, rules about your social interactions, rules at home, rules everywhere. Some are “written” by others including your organization, and many, likely the majority, by […]

Today’s Tuesday Reading is an essay by Monika R. Dressler. Director of Academic Technologies, in the LSA Technology Services group at the University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. She is an alumnus of the MOR Leaders Program. Her essay first appeared as a program reflection earlier this year. [Monika may be reached at […]

… Which do I need?   I’ve been working on a rollout plan for a new major application. And, before I present that plan to the clients, I need to give the presentation a test run. I can ask my test audience to give me feedback or I could ask them for advice. What do […]

Today’s Tuesday Reading is an essay by Dave Acheson, Network Operations, Information Systems and Technology, Chapman University. His essay first appeared as a leaders program reflection earlier this year. [Dave may be reached at  <[email protected]>.]    Since my MOR Associates Leaders Program came to an end, I have struggled to continue the strides I felt […]

In previous Tuesday Readings we have focused on the importance of planning,1 on being intentional about how we use our time,2 and on the importance of regularly moving items from our one To Do list to our calendar.3 Returning to this topic as the school year begins, seems particularly important. Each year our pace seems to be more hurried […]

Today’s Tuesday Reading is a response by Dr. Nick Dedeke, Executive Professor of Supply Chain and Information Management at Northeastern University in Boston, MA to the recent Tuesday Readings on “luck.” [Nick may be reached at [email protected].] Recent Tuesday Readings have prompted me to reflect on the subject of good luck. Good luck is a phenomenon […]

Today’s Tuesday Reading is an essay by Maria Curcio, Director of Administration, Harvard College Admissions & Financial Aid. Maria is a 2016 alumna of the MOR Leaders Program. [She may be reached at [email protected].]   In his article, Why Luck Matters More Than You Think, Robert H. Frank1 discusses luck in terms of wealth and success:   “Wealthy people overwhelmingly attribute […]

… and Why It Matters Today’s Tuesday Reading is an essay by Julian Koh, Associate Director of Telecommunications and Network Services at Northwestern University. Julian is an alumnus of the MOR Leaders Program. [He may be reached at  <[email protected]>.]      I was recently fortunate enough to take a vacation where I had two very interesting conversations […]

…and Don’t Do   Over the past several weeks, I have received, and found, a growing number of lists of things mentally and emotionally strong people do and don’t do. At this point, I have six lists containing more than 60 different recommended behaviors or habits that the reader is encouraged to engage. Some of […]