3 leadership lessons from Howard Schultz, Satya Nadella, and Jeff Bezos

3 leadership lessons from Howard Schultz, Satya Nadella, and Jeff Bezos3 leadership lessons from Howard Schultz, Satya Nadella, and Jeff BezosHow would youdescribe an effective leader?There are many ways to answer that question, but most would agree thattrue leadershipinvolves the ability to practice what one preaches, to set the example, and to inspire others.Over the past few years, Ive studied the leadership styles of numerous successful business leaders while researching my forthcoming book,EQ, Applied The Real World Guide to Emotional Intelligence.One lesson that stood out is the powerful way email is used (yes, email) to quickly communicate vital lessons at the right time.Below, youll find excerpts of three extraordinary emails from the chief executives ofStarbucks, Microsoft andAmazon, and the brilliant lessons we learn from each.Starbuckss Howard Schultz inspires employees after stock market chaosIn August 2015, signs of an economic slowdown in China triggered panic and resul ted in more than $1 trillion being wiped from Asian markets, sending the Dow plunging 588 points in a single day and prompting the trending hashtag GreatFallOfChina.Starbuckss chief executive at the time, Howard Schultz, wanted to make sure Starbucks employees were well aware of the situation - all 190,000 of them. So, hesent a compelling memoencouraging them to show special consideration for consumersOur customers are likely to experience an increased level of anxiety and concern. Please recognize this andas you always haveremember that our success is not an entitlement, but something we need to earn, every day. Lets be very sensitive to the pressures our customers may be feeling, and do everything we can to individually and collectively exceed their expectations. The experience we deliver in our stores, the strength and equity of our brand, and the primary reason for our current and future success is because of all of YOU. I believe in you and have never been prouder to be your p artner.TakeawaysLeadership and culture start at the top.It would have been easy for Schultz to read the news and move on, neglecting the opportunity to have any type of impact on his employees. But Schultz took advantage of a great opportunity to exert positive influence - in this case, inspiring his people to improve their customer service on what would certainly be a depressing day for many.Schultz managed to do this, not in a manner that was condescending or demeaning, but rather while dignifying and praising his people at the same time.Microsofts Satya Nadella encourages employees after an epic failAbout a year ago, Microsoft launched a Twitter bot by the name of Tay (officially, Tay.ai), in an attempt to advance artificial intelligence communication. Things went desperately wrong, though, when hackers and others caused Tay to begin spewing racist and profane comments - prompting Microsoft to shut down Tay just a few hours later and apologize.No doubt, the Tay kollektiv must h ave felt extremely down after this debacle. So you can imagine their response when they received anemail from their CEO that included the following statementsKeep pushing, and know that I am with you (The) key is to keep learning and improving.TakeawaysPeople need to know youve got their back.We all make mistakes. The question is, how can you help your people recover from those failures?In an interview, Nadella went on to explain the reasoning behind his encouraging tone.Its so critical for leaders not to freak people out, but to give them air cover to solve the real problem. If people are doing things out of fear, its hard or impossible to actually drive any innovation.When you encourage and build others up, rather than dishearten and tear down, theyll be motivated to continue giving their best.Jeff Bezos uses aNew York Timesexpos to make Amazon betterIn the summer of 2015,The New York Timespublished a scathing pieceportraying Amazon, the worlds largest retailer, as a brutal emplo yer that puts innovation and company performance above its peoples well-being.Im sure Bezos felt the criticism was unduly biased. (I dont recognize this Amazon, and I very much hope you dont either, Bezos told employees.)Butthrough an internal memo, Amazons chief nevertheless encouraged his people to read theTimespiece, and to escalate to HR any stories they knew of like those reported - even inviting individuals to email him directly. (Interestingly,Amazon later revealed significant changesto the way it would assess employees moving forward.)TakeawaysBezos initial response demonstrated a remarkable ability toset emotions aside and learn from criticism - even if its not delivered in an ideal way.Criticism is never easy to take, but it can help us discover blind spots and find areas for improvement. And even in those cases where negative feedback is completely unfounded, it still provides the opportunity to see things from another perspective - which can lead to invaluable insights .Remember, true leadershipisnt about having a title or trying to impress others.Its about great communication and taking action - telling your people what they need to hear, when they need to hear it, and setting the example for them to follow.This article originally appeared on LinkedIn.

Why the Salton Sea Accident Is the Worst Employee Fail of the Century

Why the Salton Sea Accident Is the Worst Employee Fail of the CenturyWhy the Salton Sea Accident Is the Worst Employee Fail of the CenturyThe Salton Sea was never meant to exist.But it did.For decades, it served as a gorgeous holiday resort, attracting massive crowds of tourists every year (more than the Yosemite Valley).But all it offers today is a bleak, desolate landscape and its level of toxicity deters anyone to tread anywhere near.So what happened? If youre unfamiliar with the story, heres a quick rundown.New rivers and a new lakeCalifornia is dry as hell. Farmers need a reliable source of water and the conditions werent much different at the beginning of the 20th century.To be able to cope with the hot desert climate of the Imperial Valley, they were looking to tap into the Colorado River to irrigate their crops.To help them out, the California Development Company decided to dredge two intake gorges. But without the use of floodgates.And, as history shows, that was a grave hum an engineering error.Courtesy of NBCThe canals levees were simply too small to handle flood waters. Whats more, the intakes soon became clogged with silt deposits from the Colorado River and the water stopped flowing.In 1905, heavy rainfall combined with snowmelt broke through the canals headworks. The unstoppable flow of water from the Colorado River gave birth to new rivers now called the New River and Alamo.These rivers took the water into the Salton Sink area. And it took almost two years to create what we now know as the Salton Sea.Nonetheless, the area rose into prominence in the 50s as a new vibrant tourist site and alsosaw a boom in recreational fishing with harbors and vacation homes dotting its sandy beaches.But the heyday couldnt last. Just a few decades later, the golden age of the Salton Sea was inevitably coming to close. The lake was dying - and animals couldnt stand it, either. The ever-increasing salinity and heavy pollution wiped off most fish and bird species, tu rning the lake into a completely barren wasteland.The environmental catastrophe was starting to take its toll. And if you think this sad story cant get any sadder, get ready to enter the surreal.Courtesy of totenstill UnfoldWhen nature goes nutsIn 1928, the Salton Sea came in very handy. The Congress was looking for a place to deposit agricultural wastewater and they choose the manmade to become a repository for this runoff - something thats still taking place today.Unfortunately, this decision only sped up the process of turning a popular pleasure hotpot into a merciless death trap.The Salton Sea became 35% saltier than the ocean and even the most salt-loving animal species couldnt spawn any longer.The lake was toxic, with fish dying in large masses because of oxygen starvation caused by overabundant algae.It was no longer a place to live, it was a place to suffer.Courtesy of NBC nachrichtensendungAir pollution soon became an issue, too. The wind has been kicking up the dust - wh ich contains toxic pesticides - from its increasingly exposed playa and taking it to neighboring human settlements and even farther.And the result?Imperial County is now battling with the highest asthma hospitalization rates in the state.The lakes also been burping up hydrogen sulfide, a gas created by the decaying organic matter trapped beneath the water. The rotting carcasses and decaying algae make the lakes rotten-egg stench unbearable.This smell can travel for quite a bit and its been reported to have reached Los Angeles - which is over a hundred miles awayCourtesy of NBC NewsA mistake of a lakeLike infamous Chernobyl (arguably even worse employee fail of the century), the Salton Sea Accident devastated a vast area of land and maimed lives of its inhabitants.Sure, there are surely hundreds of other such places across the world where ecosystem nightmares have resulted from humankinds rush to come up with short-term solutions to complex problems such as coping with severe droug ht or taming nuclear energy.To see more examples of when engineering goes wrong, check out Chinas outrageous Three Gorges Dam project displacing over a million people. Or Mexicos wind farms irrevocably changing lives of indigenous people and flooding farmers crops.Engineering mistakes and employee fails will never cease to entertain us. We got used to laughing at other peoples stupidity in amusing Youtube compilations and you had only one job memes.But the infamous time-bomb amid California drought is something different. It teaches us the hard way to measure twice and cut once. To think ahead and do things properly.This speaks to everyone, from waterworks builders to IT engineers and healthcare workers. And while the decisions in our nine-to-five jobs might bedrngnis impact the lives of whole generations of people, we need to become responsible for our everyday actions - be it work-related or not.Share Your Feedback or Ideas in the Comments

Management Skills Crucial for Engineering Success

Management Skills Crucial for Engineering Success Management Skills Crucial for Engineering Success More than half of ASME members polled in a 2008 survey reported that their jobs require management skills. The survey, conducted by Deloitte Touche LLP, interviewed about 1,900 engineers, including members of ASME, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers.The importance of management skills was underscored when participants described their immediate plans for professional development. Fifty-five percent planned to undertake management training such as project management, general management, strategic planning, marketing, or accounting/finance. Nearly half of those planning to pursue management-focused professional development considered pursuing certification or a degree.Executive ConcernsThe Deloitte Touche survey also included interviews with senior engineering and management executives from 30 science and engineering companies. Three management concerns emerged from this survey.One is an impending shortage of engineers. Another is globalization, its impact on local employment, and the need to implement quality and standardized management training in emerging markets.The third concern involved the complexity of innovation. Companies need managers well-versed in the disciplines of both technology and business to remain successful in a world where product innovation is increasingly becoming a matter of multidisciplinary, international, and often multicultural collaboration.With this in mind, it is all the more critical to identify the next generation of engineer-managers to lead companies through current and emerging challenges.Adapted from Certified to Lead by Gregory N. Marino, for Mechanical Engineering, August 2009.The importance of management skills was underscored when participants described their immediate plans for professional deve lopment.