Leadership Development News Roundup: Teamwork and Collaboration Edition

When Oracle’s Larry Ellison decided last month to appoint two CEOs to fill his shoes, many in the business world were left scratching their heads. Is his decision really so odd, though? Will it spell disaster or foster healthy competition among the two executives? Can effective teamwork and collaboration be achieved at such a high level?For this week’s Leadership Development News Roundup, I’ve assembled a collection of articles and blog posts about the pros and cons of Ellison’s decision, as well as advice to help you build a culture of teamwork and collaboration at your organization.

• Oracle Hunger Games: Larry Ellison Creates Co-CEOs. Bloomberg Businessweek: “Eventually, one is likely to go -- or both will. The problem isn’t just that dual leaders create confusion for employees, customers, and practically everyone else who has to deal with them. As University of Michigan management professor Noel Tichy points out, the co-CEO title is especially irritating to those who have it. ‘It set ups a very funky dynamic with people who, at the end of the day, have been bred to want the gold ring,’ says Tichy, who has just written a book on succession.”

• With co-CEOs, Companies Flirt with Disaster. Fortune: “Sandy Weill and John Reed, co-CEOs at Citigroup from 1998 to 2000, clashed, says Lawrence Hrebiniak, professor emeritus of management at Wharton, since they were both ‘strong people with strong views’ when it came to determining the company’s direction. ‘In that case, the duality didn’t really do them very good.’”

• Why Major Companies Like Oracle, Whole Foods, And Chipotle Have 2 CEOs. Business Insider: “The co-CEO system is nothing new, though it is certainly uncommon. Previous implementations suggest that having more than one chief executive can help a company accomplish more by delegating different roles to each head. But the system is certainly not for every company. Sometimes referred to as ‘two-in-the-box,’ the unusual structure can provide ‘increased scope and broader capacity,’ Joseph L. Bower, a management professor at Harvard Business School, told Business Insider.”

• 6 Concrete Steps To Building A Collaborative Culture That Inspires. Forbes: “We conduct thorough interviewing and on-boarding of new hires as a team approach, so candidates get a very good feel for collaboration and teamwork from the outset – and also get a taste of the intimacy of meeting and working with those they’ll be collaborating with in the future. We’ve also implemented an extensive on-boarding approach for new hires so they meet personally with each department for lunch in the first several weeks without a business purpose. It breaks down barriers around who the ‘newbie’ is (regardless of rank) from the outset.”

• Whole Foods Teamwork Is A Natural. CTNow: “Some corporations have a top-down model that leads to let-me-get-a-manager style customer-service. Whole Foods workers are empowered and encouraged to learn about the products, resolve problems and take part in the company's growth, said Tom Neal, 56, the ‘store team leader’ in Glastonbury, meaning he is effectively its general manager. ‘If there's a new kind of cheese, everyone gets information on it and they all try it,’ he said. ‘We're always trying to bring in new kinds of produce. When the first crop of peaches comes in from Georgia, we all try it so that when the customer comes by you can say, 'I'd give 'em a week,' or, 'They're comin' in nice this year.'”

Let us know if you’d like our help developing teamwork and collaboration tools for your organization.Success Labs is a full-service, strategic organizational and leadership development company located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more than 25 years, our expert team of consultants has worked with hundreds of companies to explore their business potential and improve their company and cultural performance. Contact us to get proactive about your people strategy.