Mitch Barns

The Value of Diversity to an Organization’s Results

Diversity is crucial to an organization’s growth, strength, and ability to innovate. There are other very good arguments for diversity (social justice, for instance), too, but let’s focus for the moment just on business outcomes. Diverse teams and organizations outperform teams with less diversity. During my time as the CEO of Nielsen, we set outContinue reading “The Value of Diversity to an Organization’s Results”

Grit, Resourcefulness, Self-Sacrifice

The fundamentals of leadership are well-known: Vision, willingness to step to the front, and integrity, to name a few. Here are a few other leadership qualities that don’t get talked about as much. These are incredibly important leadership qualities. In fact, these are often the qualities that separate the best from the rest. 1. Grit.Continue reading “Grit, Resourcefulness, Self-Sacrifice”

Innovation

More than 500 years ago, in the year 1513, Niccolò Machiavelli wrote this in the classic book called The Prince: “And it ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction ofContinue reading “Innovation”

Keys to Career Success

Several years ago, I spoke at the Wharton Asia Business Conference, sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Business School. One of the other speakers was Donald Tang, who was, among many other things, the former Chairman & CEO of Bear Stearns Asia. After each speaker’s talk, there was a Q&A session. At the endContinue reading “Keys to Career Success”

What Governs?

Every well-run business or team requires governance. Governance comes in two main forms: formal controls and social norms. If a business is well-governed, then some combination of these two will provide the governance required. Let’s take a look at each. Formal controls: These are the rules, policies, and procedures established to ensure control and order. TheseContinue reading “What Governs?”

Fathers

[The following is the eulogy I delivered at my father’s memorial service after he passed away in the summer of 1997.] My father was born in a small town, Wilmington, Ohio, in 1940. He was the third son of Irene and Howard Barns. His oldest brother, Geoffrey, died at age 4, one year before myContinue reading “Fathers”

In the Rain, Uphill, Against the Wind: The Perfect Time

When I was young, I played basketball. I’m not tall, so this was perhaps not the best choice, but I loved it. To compensate, I practiced a lot, especially when it was raining, because when it was raining, I was pretty sure that no one else was out there. It would just be me. ItContinue reading “In the Rain, Uphill, Against the Wind: The Perfect Time”