Books
New and Notable Books | Indra Nooyi - My Life in Full
Indra Nooyi, the former chair and CEO of PepsiCo, is one of the only women to run a Fortune 50 company and one of the foremost strategic thinkers of our time. In her new memoir My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future #Ad Nooyi describes the events that shaped her life, from her childhood and early education in 1960s India to the Yale School of Management to her rise as a corporate consultant and strategist who ascended into the most senior executive ranks in business.
washingtonpost.com
Leadership
Great Leaders Build a Strong Advisor Network | NFX
Your advice network can be a big competitive advantage if you cultivate it properly.
How does your network of advisors compare to the best in the business?
Great leaders have strong connections to advisors with expertise and achievements in the business or technical domain they are pursuing.
Who do you count on to help you advance and excel?
Where do you find new ideas and people who will support and challenge you to step up, compete, and win at the next levels?
Who will tell you things you need to know but may not want to hear?
What leader or advisor would you like to meet to strengthen or diversify your network?
Asking for advice or investment is the most direct way to recruit a new advisor. Here are three things to consider:
First, your goal should be to establish a genuine connection with the person. You want to like and trust each other.
Second, the best advisors are busy and selective, so you must be more attractive than most founders who request their advice. Know what may interest them in you and your company + be prepared to make your pitch!
Third, if you want investment, just say that up front. Getting hijacked in a meeting you thought was for advice but is really for investment is not a good way to establish a trusted connection.
nfx.com
Construction
New Methods and Green Materials Accelerate Construction | NEXII
Last year, building a new Starbucks using conventional methods required four to six months and dozens of construction trades people. Today, using Nexii Building Solutions pre-fabricated materials, four people can assemble a Starbucks building shell in six days.
While most attention to Nexii emphasizes its proprietary green building materials and $1 billion+ valuation, Nexii systems are attracting interest and investment from developers and builders who want to accelerate construction schedules, improve workplace safety, and lower labor costs.
Nexiite - a polymer concrete that is resistant to fire, water and pests has 20% to 40% less embedded carbon than concrete and steel. And because of its high insulating properties, it has up to 60% less operational carbon.
Buildings made from Nexiite are pre-fabricated at a local manufacturing plant and easily and quickly assembled at the construction site. It is an approach that will likely disrupt the construction industry in a very big way.
Although the biggest market for Nexii buildings has been commercial buildings and mid-rises, there are significant emerging opportunities in the residential sector. Nexiite can’t replace concrete and steel in highrises that require greater structural strength but Nexiite panels could be used for exterior envelopes in tall buildings.
ampproject.org
People
5 Things Employees Expect from Leaders + Business Culture | MIT
Millions of Americans are quitting their jobs in a phenomenon called the Great Resignation.
Because the biggest factor in keeping employees on board is corporate culture, it is urgent and important for business leaders to identify and strengthen aspects of culture that matter most to their employees.
Based on MIT's analysis of 1.4+ million reviews posted to Glassdoor, here are the five factors that matter most to employees:
Respect for employees is 18 times more important than most other factors that influence culture and twice as important as the second key topic. Simply put, employees don’t like being demeaned or degraded.
Supportive leaders help employees get the job done and have their back in times of need.
Job security may not be a typical corporate value, but if employees are talking about layoffs, firings, or outsourcing efforts, there’s a negative impact on culture.
Leaders who exemplify core business values earn appreciation of employees who otherwise expect executives to say one thing and do another.
Benefits have a greater impact on culture scores than compensation. Firms must be careful, though, as front-line workers have different priorities than office workers.
Finally, it is important to note that some oft-touted factors, such as friendly colleagues, flexible schedules, and manageable workloads, had no noticeable impact!
mit.edu
Tools
Get More Out of Google Calendar | Lifehacker
Google Calendar is a powerful tool that can do more than we typically use it for at work and in our personal lives. Here is a guide to 9 Google Calendar features that may help you be healthier and more effective at things that matter most to you.
- Set up and focus on goals
- Default duration and permissions for meetings
- Display a secondary time zone
- Show world clock
- Add Google Meet invites automatically—or not
- Get useful add-ons for Google Calendar
- Integrate events from Gmail
- Try some keyboard shortcuts
- Find interesting new calendars