You're Not the Boss of Me

OCTOBER 31, 2010

You’re Not the Boss of Me Skip to content Home About Me About This Blog ← The Language of Leadership in the 21st Century. From this perspective, I think it safe to say that the work of leadership includes breaking rules. As they often say in retail stores about handling merchandise, “ If you break it you own it”.

Maturity 50

Maturity Blog Merchandising McCarthy 50

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 6, 2014

In hindsight, this thinking turned out to be far less important than what we learned about leadership, control, and trust, which ultimately were reflected in how each of the businesses was created, capitalized, and staffed. Ma and the Alibaba leadership team would retain management control.

Chief Financial Officer 8

Chief Financial Officer Operations Learning-by-Doing IPO 8

In the CEO Afterlife

NOVEMBER 4, 2012

Economically I probably helped shift some merchandise. I met a lot of funny, talented and clever people, got to become an overnight expert in everything from shower-heads to sheep-dip, got to scratch my creative itch on a daily basis, and earned enough money to raise the family which I love, and even see them occasionally.

Advertising 265

Advertising Creativity Industry Bottom-up 265

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 26, 2017

As the industry moved toward an emphasis on customer service and merchandising, the company fell behind, because its employees were focused more on increasing inventory turns and sales per square foot. For example, at a grocery store chain I worked with, employees were steeped in an operations culture that valued efficiency and productivity.

Brand 8

Brand Company Operations Merchandising 8