MIT Sloan Management Review

Commanding laggards to “copy exactly” the best practices of performance leaders isn’t always the ideal solution. A balance between uniformity and discretion is optimal.

Leadership consists of opposing strengths, and most leaders have a natural tendency to overdevelop one at the expense of its counterpart. The resulting imbalance diminishes their effectiveness. But leaders who work to guard against such lopsidedness can increase their versatility and their impact.

The scandals at Enron, WorldCom, Tyco and elsewhere over the past few years have focused a spotlight on corporate boards.

Not long ago, continuity and stability were the watchwords of corporate operations. Now, with companies facing ever more demanding customers and tougher competition, ongoing operational performance improvement has become a strategic imperative.