Editor’s Choices for Week Ending Jul 6, 2012

Article of the Week
Monet And The Art Of Intent (FastCompany)
Big Idea:  Intentions keep us focused on what is most important to us and guide our behaviors accordingly. In addition, unlike vision, intent situates responsibility. When the author of an idea states what he or she is trying to do, there is no question who is supposed to do it.

Editor’s Choice Articles
Red Hat CEO: How to Inspire Employees (Inc.)
Big Idea: Change management is what you do to employees; when employees participate, change is what they do for the company and for themselves.

Conflict Keeps Teams at the Top of Their Game (HBR Blog Network)
Big Idea: What few people seem to realize is that even the most effective teams will feel conflict-prone at times. And there are good reasons for this. Teams composed of high-performing individuals are naturally subject to contradictory tensions, like cooperation and rivalry, trust and vigilance. These tensions should not be managed away — they are productive and can help teams perform better.

How To Properly Define “Great Leader”–And Act Like One (FastCompany)
Big Idea: A great leader helps a group of people identify what they want and how to get it, and then influences that group, free of coercion, to take coordinated action to achieve the desired outcomes. A great leader achieves results at a level far beyond what others achieve.

Niraj Shah of Wayfair.Com, on Employee Recognition (NYTimes)
Big Idea: One thing I’ve learned over time is that it’s important to take a minute and celebrate a win before you move on to the next thing you want to accomplish.

4 Leadership Lessons From The Founding Fathers (FastCompany)
Big Idea:  Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world, indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” She’s right. Here are four leadership principles our Founders taught us.

Recover Your Credibility (HBR Blog Network)
Big Idea: When your words and actions don’t align, you have fallen into the Credibility Gap. When you have a credibility gap at your workplace, it is damaging to your reputation and to your career. And if you’re in a leadership or customer service role, your credibility gap could be hurting your company.

If Happiness Is An Inalienable Right, How Come We’re Not Happier? (Forbes)
Big Idea: The goal of the firm is meaningful: adding value for customers, not just making money. When workers have a direct line of sight to customers and can see the impact of what they do, they see meaning in their work. When work is done in self-organizing teams, this in turn generate engagement and strong horizontal relationships. The workplace thus creates the possibility of happiness in people’s lives, as well as making tons of money for the firm.

Hire Smart: Dump The Resume Pile, Start Playing Games (FastCompany)
Big Idea: Every talent-recruitment executive knows how hard it is to make a good new hire. But L’Oreal, the French cosmetics giant, is making hundreds of successful hires each year from a pool of thousands of highly qualified young prospects who connect with L’Oréal through business games.