Management Archives

The Dichotomy of Leadership: Book Overview

What is Jocko Willink and Leif Babin’s book The Dichotomy of Leadership about? What is the key message to take away from the book? The Dichotomy of Leadership is Willink and Babin’s follow-up to 2015’s Extreme Ownership, which argues that a leader should take responsibility for all their team’s mistakes and do everything they can to improve the team’s chance of success. The principle of Extreme Ownership serves as the foundation of Willink and Babin’s argument throughout The Dichotomy of Leadership. Let’s explore five dichotomies that the authors believe every leader should strive to balance at all times.

How to Embrace Courageous Leadership

What does it mean to lead courageously? Where is the fine line between courageous and reckless leadership? Leadership requires striking a balance between action and risk management. In other words, you must find a way to rush toward your goal as ruthlessly as possible while maintaining the presence of mind to guard against careless mistakes. To do so, you need to find the right amount of courage. Here’s how to embrace courageous leadership while erring on the side of caution.

3 Best Practices to Prevent Employee Poaching

Are you worried that another company will poach your best employees? How can you convince employees to stay with your company? Netflix CEO Reed Hastings wrote in his book No Rules Rules that there are three ways to prevent employee poaching: paying top-of-market salaries, eliminating performance-based bonuses, and giving raises that reflect market value. Some of these methods may be difficult but it’s important to remember that good employees are investments, not tools. Here’s an overview of each of the three methods.

Netflix’s Management Strategy Explained

What is Netflix’s management strategy? How can such a huge company remain successful with so few policies? Netflix’s CEO Reed Hastings believes that employees should have as much autonomy as possible. That’s why he aims to eliminate controls so employees have the power to act in the company’s best interest without a long and complicated approval process. Here are the three benefits of Netflix’s lenient management strategy.

4 Rules for a Decentralized Organizational Structure

The 3 Common Characteristics of a Good Business

Do you think your company would do well with a decentralized organizational structure? What conditions must your company meet for this structure to be successful? A decentralized organizational structure removes most rules and controls and gives employees the autonomy to act without approval. In the wrong hands, this system is risky and possibly costly. But, under the right conditions, this system can promote accountability and innovation. Here’s how to successfully decentralize power, using Netflix as an example.

Corrective Feedback: What It Is and How to Use It

What is corrective feedback? Why does the Netflix CEO so strongly believe in corrective feedback? Corrective feedback is a type of ongoing feedback aimed at improving an employee’s performance over time. When done incorrectly, corrective feedback can cause frustration and awkwardness. But, when done properly, it can raise employee performance. Here are Netflix’s guidelines for implementing corrective feedback in the workplace.

Netflix: Innovation Is a 4-Step Process

What is it like to work at Netflix? Does Netflix have an innovative culture? As a company with no vacation or expense policy, Netflix is no stranger to taking an unorthodox approach to management. One of Netflix’s more unique policies is the freedom it gives to its employees to innovate and make risky decisions, despite the chance that they won’t pay off. Keep reading to learn about Netflix’s method of inspiring innovation (what the company calls the “Netflix Innovation Cycle”).

Netflix’s Vacation Policy: They Don’t Track Time Off?

How does Netflix’s vacation policy of unlimited time off work? How can managers prevent employees from taking too much time off? One of the non-policies Netflix is known for is its “no vacation policy.” This means that all employees can take as many vacation days as they want without being tracked. Of course, they had to put some safety measures into place to prevent bedlam. Let’s go over how Netflix’s unlimited vacation policy works.

How Neflix’s Expense (Non)Policy Works

How can a company as big as Netflix have such a lenient expense policy? How can Netflix enforce such subjective rules? Netflix’s expense policy basically states that all employees must “act in the company’s best interest” when it comes to travel expenses such as flights, hotels, and dinners. The problem is that each person may have a different idea of what is acceptable and what is extravagant. Here’s how Netflix ironed out the kinks in their expense policy.

Netflix’s 360-Degree Assessment Process

Are 360-degree reviews effective at Netflix? Would you give criticism to a coworker if your name was attached to it? Reed Hastings, Netflix’s co-founder and CEO, wrote about his 360-degree assessment process in his book No Rules Rules. At first, Hastings believed that written, anonymous feedback would be given to each employee. But later, he decided that live feedback given from an employee’s coworkers was more effective. Continue reading to learn about the evolution of Netflix’s 360-degree assessment process.