Every organization has a unique culture — an intangible and often unconscious "personality" — that influences the way people work, behave, and interact on the job. That culture may be naturally in sync with the company's vision and objectives, but if it's not, it can secretly undermine the organization's success. How can you find out where your organization's culture stands in relation to its goals?

    The Cultural Compass, a new addition to CEO's assessment capabilities, is a paper-and-pencil survey that takes individuals and teams through an exciting process of cultural discovery. It uncovers both personal tendencies and organizational "orientations" in areas such as people-related practices, freedom and flexibility, collaboration, focus on action and goal accomplishment, and adherence to mission, values, and ethical standards. The profile that emerges reveals any gaps between leadership's vision of the company and the perceptions of others in the organization. With this eye-opening insight on organizational reality, the Cultural Compass offers a powerful tool for developing initiatives to change, renew, or strengthen team or organizational culture.

    Remember when people used to send you newspaper and magazine clippings they thought you'd appreciate? On paper? Today, the instinct to share has manifested itself electronically — what hasn't? — in "social bookmarking" websites like del.icio.us and digg.com. So, being the cutting-edge people we are, CEO has established a page on del.icio.us where you can check out articles and web pages we've come across that are of particular interest to CEO people. Go to http://del.icio.us/PEPtalk any time (you might want to bookmark that link for yourself), and take a look at what's happening out there!

• Current hot links: A pair of articles from the Wharton School of Business on the impact of employee emotions on performance and financial returns.
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    The common wisdom on effective teamwork is that individual team members must check their egos and self-interests at the door. But a recent survey of 247 senior executives by the Center for Creative Leadership suggests that in some ways, a focus on the self may be a key ingredient to effective team leadership. There is, after all, an "i" in "collaboration."

    The research report, titled "10 Trends: A Study of Senior Executives' Views on the Future," points to trends that call for leaders to hone their skills at personal authenticity — their ability to "be themselves" — as business environments become ever more collaborative. "Authenticity is the next celebrity," the report declared. "The willingness of a leader to be himself rather than a remote, unapproachable manager is one skill that can help foster a collaborative workplace. But when asked about their ability to bring their authentic selves to work, executives say they face major obstacles."

    In addition, fewer than half the survey respondents said they believe the leaders in their organization are skilled collaborators, although nearly all of them said leaders in their organization must collaborate to succeed.

    The report also cited previous research suggesting that taking care of business starts with taking care of yourself: Executives who exercise regularly score higher than non-exercisers in all leadership categories, including organization, credibility, leading others, and authenticity.

• To read the full report, click here.

    "Good relationships aren't about clear communication — they're about small moments of attachment and intimacy," says psychologist John M. Gottman, executive director of the Relationship Research Institute. Gottman based that conclusion on 35 years of conducting studies of marital relationships, Read More

• The Procrastinator's Law of Inverse Excuses:
  The greater the task to be done, the more insignificant the work that must be done prior to getting started on it.
• The Victim's Law of Negative Regression:
  A pat on the back is only a few inches from a kick in the pants.
• The Superachiever's Law of Lost Irony:
  By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to work twelve hours a day. (Yippee!)
• The Avoider's Law of Universal Solutions:
  According to all calculations, the problem doesn't exist.