A recent article in Fast Company listed the favorite productivity secrets of a few well-known CEOs. Let’s take some of those and add a few SIPA leaders to the mix. Keep one day a week free from meetings. Asana CEO Dustin Moskovitz has implemented a company-wide “No Meeting Wednesdays” (NMW) rule. “The high-level goal of NMW is to ensure that everyone gets a large block of time each week to do focused, heads-down work,” he writes on the company blog. Create conditions for success. "You need your staff to collaborate to create products that can grow platforms," said Tim Hartman, CEO of Government Executive Media Group. "Create a culture to build trust and collaboration, and breaking down silos... Think ambitious experiments and trust each other. If you look around and don't see that, you have a problem." Define your mission. Knowing what your mission is is critical, said Heather Farley, COO of Access Intelligence. “Und ...

At a SIPA Annual 2018 session on Creating a High-Performance Culture Across Your Company, executives Brian Crotty of OPIS, Heather Farley of Access Intelligence and Christopher Mairs of Leeds Equity Partners spoke about identifying star potential in their employees. “The first thing is you give them a task that gets done and you never hear about it,” said Crotty. “Then you give them more and more. They take feedback well, seek it out and become risk takers. They’re willing to get out there, fail and learn from it. It’s also a person that other employees gravitate around—that’s the one I need to keep an eye on.” Farley recalled a junior reporter who was researching metrics on his articles and setting his own goals. “It’s usually apparent who’s engaging at that level and wants more [responsibility]. It’s hard though. I had  a young marketer who I loved—we gave her pay increases, title changes, bu ...

In a full-screen video on Financial Times division Money-Media's homepage—with the headline, "Why should you work for Money-Media?" above it—New York City looks fast-paced and beautiful. We hear from various employees about the career-growing opportunities, trust and camaraderie bursting forth in their brick-laden office. Then we see laughter and food at staff gatherings, a softball title and comfortable meetings.