By Melissa J. Anderson

Is data literacy the next critical leadership skill? According to the Corporate Executive Board it is. In a recent Harvard Business Review article, Shvetank Shah, Leader of the CEB IT Practice, and CEB Managing Directors Andrew Horne and Jaime Capellá, explained how most organizations have invested significantly in data management tools. Yet few people know how to manage it effectively.

They write, “At this very moment, there’s an odds-on chance that someone in your organization is making a poor decision on the basis of information that was enormously expensive to collect.”

The problem, they contend, comes down to a few factors. But it is mainly due to not enough training or experience analyzing data to formulate good decisions. As organizations become increasingly reliant on empirical evidence, today’s effective leaders will need to become more adept at sorting through facts and figures to come up with effective and workable decisions.

By Andrea Newell

Every day, more organizations are recognizing the impact sustainability practices can have on their business and are implementing sustainable initiatives. However, sustainability can’t exist in silo, it should be integrated into all aspects of organization. To be authentic and effective, sustainability must be measured, then goals set, documented and shared. As companies try to meet their stated goals, they should track their progress and report on their successes and shortcomings. Without transparency, sustainability efforts ring hollow.

Sustainability initiatives can increase employee retention and satisfaction, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, streamline business processes, save money, enrich the community and benefit the bottom line.

In honor of Earth Day, here are 10 ways that business leaders can leverage their influence to make a difference.

By Melissa J. Anderson

In their new book, Judgment Calls: 12 Stories of Big Decisions and the Teams that Got Them Right, authors Thomas H. Davenport and Brook Manville explain the importance of organizational judgment, or leveraging an organization’s wealth of knowledge and culture to make smart decisions – rather than simply relying on one leader’s sense of judgment.

The book describes twelve case studies on how a company relied on the “wisdom of the crowd.” Moreover, they continue, it’s about using that wisdom to move toward an effective decision and make it stick. They explain, organizational judgment is: “…tapping not just the wisdom of the crowd, but the leadership of the crowd. While hierarchy and leadership from CEOs and presidents are not going away, there are increasing settings in which ‘collective leadership’ is being employed.”

Organizational judgment is an acknowledgment that culture plays a part in now how and why companies change – and the grassroots has become an implicit player in those changes.

Here’s how one corporate culture recognized the need to change itself. By leveraging its own cultural values, it managed to achieve more diversity and improve its decision making abilities.

By Melissa J. Anderson

Almost half (43%) of UK managers consider their line managers to be ineffective or highly ineffective, according to a new report released by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and HR consultancy Penna.

The study, which surveyed almost 4,500 managers, CEOs, and HR directors in the UK provided several perspectives on the importance of management leadership development (MLD) for a successful organization.

Dr. Martin Read CBE CCMI, Chair of the Research Steering Board; Non-executive director, Invensys, Aegis Group, Lloyd’s and the UK Cabinet Office Efficiency and Reform Board said this study has revealed insight into management training and leadership development best practices like never before.

He said that smart companies invest in training and development for managers, and given an economic outlook where they need to get the most out of employees, they would be wise to invest strategically in their people. He explained:

“With the economy stalling and the public finances in a precarious condition, the UK has rarely had a greater need for world-class management and leadership. Whether it is unlocking growth in the private sector or creating a more efficient public sector, developing the right management skills and behaviours is absolutely critical.”

The study provides advice on getting how companies can get the most from their managers. And based on the effectiveness numbers the research revealed, the majority of UK companies would benefit by taking his advice to heart.

By Melissa J. Anderson

Tomorrow’s CEO will likely have international experience and an operational background, and will have risen through the ranks of the company for a number of years. That’s according to a new study by The Week and Beresford Research.

Researchers analyzed the backgrounds of over 1,000 CEOs of S&P 500 companies over the past decade and created an “industry-specific, empirically projectable model” of the demographic characteristics of CEOs. They then applied the model to over 8,000 up and coming executives to find out who was most likely to become a CEO.

The research also included a survey and interviews with executives to determine what the CEO of the future will be like.

By Melissa J. Anderson

A recent Ernst & Young report explains that today’s business word is “polycentric,” that is, with the rise of the emerging markets, there are many centers of business with different ways of operating, and they don’t necessarily fall in line behind one Western global headquarters.

The report explains, “Companies must now operate in a “polycentric world” in which there are multiple but divergent spheres of influence in both developed and developing markets.”

And that means a shift in the behavior and mindset of leadership. Ersnt & Young’s Chairman and CEO James S. Turley wrote:

“Navigating this new environment requires agility and know-how. That means taking a more networked approach to innovation — through decentralized innovation hubs or new external partners. And it requires creating and nurturing diverse leadership teams with strong global experience.”

As new markets rise in importance, driving growth and innovation for top companies, leadership will have to become more adept at managing global high performers – and leadership will have to become more diverse and culturally competent itself.