Saying "I'm sorry" can save relationships

"I" culture can be bad for business and for your health | New habits are needed to think long term under stress | Buying a startup isn't the only option Created for {EMAIL} | [Web Version](   February 12, 2019 CONNECT WITH SMARTBRIEF  [LinkedIn]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [SmartBrief on Leadership]( [SmartBrief on Leadership]( Innovative Ideas. Ahead of the Curve. [SIGN UP]( ⋅ [FORWARD]( [] Leading Edge [] ["I" culture can be bad for business and for your health]( Focus on creating fewer superstars and instead focus on the team culture, writes Christopher Schelling. Research suggests that an "I" or "me" culture can be bad for physical and mental health, causing depression among those who focus on themselves as well as a higher risk of heart disease. [Institutional Investor online]( (2/7) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [New habits are needed to think long term under stress]( Neuroscience can help leaders be able to think through a problem even when stress would normally push them toward a default response, argue research psychiatrist Jeffrey Schwartz and Art Kleiner of Strategy+Business. Transactional responses are part of business, but leaders must also develop the ability "to really think about the world around you, the people around you, and yourself in new ways," Kleiner says. [Knowledge@Wharton]( (2/6) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( Join Top Leaders Moving up in your career requires a smart investment in your leadership potential. Exceed your goals without interrupting your career path through the Kellogg Executive MBA program. [Choose a program format: meet twice a month in Evanston or monthly in Miami]( ADVERTISEMENT [] Strategic Management [] [Buying a startup isn't the only option]( Less risky steps than M&A include licensing a startup's patent, creating a joint venture or investing without buying outright. "Our approach is to invest in these companies to build a strong relationship, give them some work and, if the time is right, at some point to consider an acquisition," says Dan Reed of American Family Ventures, the venture capital fund of American Family Insurance. [Chief Executive online]( (2/4) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( Emotional Intelligence Leadership Quiz Successful leaders require a unique set of skills, and the best leaders are those with a high degree of emotional intelligence (EI). By developing your EI, you can set your team on the path for success. [Put yours to the test with this quiz](. ADVERTISEMENT [] Smarter Communication [] [Saying "I'm sorry" can save relationships]( Look at apologizing as a way of accepting responsibility for a mistake and not necessarily as an admission of guilt. "If you value the relationship more than being right, are willing to lose a small battle for the sake of winning the larger war, or need to take one for your team, it's OK to apologize -- even if you've done nothing wrong," writes Randy Conley. [Leading With Trust blog]( (2/10) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [Performance reviews not need be dreadful]( Performance reviews should be more frequent than annually and include a short and to-the-point set of questions about goals, writes Randal Vegter, NewsCred people operations chief. "Things clicked into place when we transitioned to eight forward-facing, light-touch conversations per year," he writes. [Workology]( (2/11) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Innovation & Creativity A weekly spotlight on making the next big thing happen [] [Silos and slabs can both stall a company]( Silos and slabs can both stall a company (Henry Mintzberg) Organizations suffer from barriers between departments (silos) and across management levels (slabs), writes Henry Mintzberg in this book excerpt. "We may need silos for the sake of specialization in our organizations, but we don't need impenetrable walls," he writes. [SmartBrief/Leadership]( (2/11) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] SmartPulse [] What is your organization's attitude toward paying its suppliers? We see prompt payment as an important sign of partnership and professionalism. 75.40% We deliberately pay slowly. That extra interest adds up! 9.27% We try to pay promptly, but it's not that big of a deal if we don't. 9.26% We'll pay when we pay. We have more important things to worry about. 6.07% [] Money over partnership. While the vast majority of you see paying vendor invoices promptly as a sign of professionalism (which it is), a discouraging portion of respondents think it’s fine to pay late or, even worse, deliberately do so. Now, if you’re still paying within contractual timelines, no big deal. But if you’re stretching beyond the timeframe you agreed to, consider the implications of your actions. You’re deliberately violating an agreement to advance your self-interests and doing so at someone else’s expense. Are a relationship and a reputation worth a few extra dollars in interest? There are people (especially small businesses) on the other end of those transactions counting on you to live up to what you agreed to. Perhaps it's time to review your priorities if you’re deliberately paying late. -- Mike Figliuolo is managing director of [ThoughtLeaders](. Before launching his own company, he worked at McKinsey & Co., Capital One and Scotts Miracle-Gro. He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He's the author of three leadership books: "[One Piece of Paper](," "[Lead Inside the Box](" and "[The Elegant Pitch](." [] Where does the most influence reside in your organization? [Vote]( [Marketing is the top dog.]( [Vote]( [Product is king.]( [Vote]( [Finance rules all.]( [Vote]( [Operations is in charge.]( [Vote]( [R&D is above all others.]( [Vote]( [Sales, sales, sales.]( [Vote]( [Someone else.]( [] In Their Own Words [] [A look at how Symantec managed its upheaval]( Over the past five years, cybersecurity tech company Symantec has undergone several divestitures, as well as acquisitions, and has changed CEOs twice -- but without major disruptions, says CIO Sheila Jordan. "If you're organized correctly, and you create a blend of the employees from different companies, you end up with a diverse team and a culture with diverse perspectives and experiences," she says. [Strategy+Business online (free registration)]( (2/6) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Daily Diversion [] [Ultima Thule shaped more like a pancake, new images show]( Kuiper Belt object Ultima Thule is shaped more like a pancake than a snowman, according to data sent by NASA's New Horizons space probe. "[T]he new images are creating scientific puzzles about how such an object could even be formed," said Alan Stern, the mission's principal investigator. [BBC]( (2/10) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [] No greater glory, no greater honor, is the lot of man departing than a feeling possessed deep in his heart that the world is a better place for his having lived. Robert Sengstacke Abbott, founder and editor of The Chicago Defender, the most widely circulated black newspaper in the US [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [Sign Up]( [SmartBrief offers 200+ newsletters]( [Advertise]( [Learn more about the SmartBrief audience]( Subscriber Tools: [Manage Subscriptions]( [Update Your Profile]( [Unsubscribe]( [Send Feedback]( [Archive]( [Search]( Contact Us: Jobs Contact - jobhelp@smartbrief.com Advertising - [Laura Engel](mailto:lengel@smartbrief.com) Editor - [James daSilva](mailto:leadership@smartbrief.com) Mailing Address: SmartBrief, Inc.®, 555 11th ST NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20004 © 1999-2019 SmartBrief, Inc.® [Privacy Policy (updated May 25, 2018)]( | [Legal Information]( Â