Looking at someone’s education and background can be helpful when screening job candidates, but the best indicator of who’s the right fit can’t always be found on a résumé. Companies ranging from big names like Pinterest to small startups are conducting culture interviews to build cohesive teams that match the feel of the office—not just the job description.

During a tour to Paris, Bruce Springsteen explained that his dream was for the US to adapt a Swedish style welfare state. The famous musician is far from alone in idealizing Nordic policies. The four Nordic nations (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden) are often regarded as prime role-models the policies to be emulated by others. Internationally, advocates of left of centre policies view these countries as examples of how high tax social democratic systems are viable and successful. Paul Krugman, for example, has said: “Every time I read someone talking about the ‘collapsing welfare states of Europe’, I have this urge to take that person on a forced walking tour of Stockholm”.

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A clear majority of executives say their companies are pursuing growth in categories outside their core business—and report a strong belief that doing so has created company value. But a McKinsey Global Survey suggests that over time, companies’ aspirations to grow through these activities have produced only modest results and that few companies have the right practices in place to support such growth.1

Email, Facebook, cat videos — these are just a few of the things that 15% of American adults are missing out on every day because they don't use the Internet.

However, that 15% is a huge reduction from the percentage of Americans who did not use the Internet in 2000, according to a new analysis of survey data by the Pew Research Center, a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C. In that year, almost half of all Americans (48%) said they didn't go online.

Most new entrepreneurs assume that great investors will find their startups based on the compelling solution the founders have created. It does happen once in a while, but usually only for entrepreneurs who have already spent money promoting their efforts, and a large amount of precious time connecting with their peers and the investment community.

The compliance department of a large organization wasn’t getting the paperwork it needed from the sales team. This was holding up the deals that sales had worked so hard to close, and everyone was frustrated. Finally, one of the sales leaders proposed that the compliance department train the salespeople in the correct protocol. “Sure, I think we can do that,” the compliance leader responded, a bit casually. Everyone seemed ready to move on, but the sales leader persisted: “Is that a promise?”

Whether you’re a veteran small business owner or running a startup, struggling to strike a balance between your work and your personal life is a common challenge. Mile-long to-do lists, smartphones delivering steady streams of email, and struggling to stay ahead of constantly evolving technology can make even the most levelheaded person feel overwhelmed.

Many leaders drive others harder than they need to. What results is a constant push for their team to achieve those goals. Meetings consist of checking the lists of things to be fixed and get done now.

Recently I listened with awe as leaders described a change of heart following my Coaching for Breakthrough Performance workshop, where we spent significant time on skills that build relationships. Many described their newfound recognition of moving relationship-building with their stakeholders higher on their priority list.

A tiny artificial eye inspired by the vision systems of insects could help small flying drones navigate their surroundings well enough to avoid collisions while buzzing around in confined, cluttered spaces—a key step in making these small autonomous flying vehicles practical.

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Since Steve Jobs’s death, in 2011, Elon Musk has emerged as the leading celebrity of Silicon Valley. Musk is the CEO of Tesla Motors, which produces electric cars; the CEO of SpaceX, which makes rockets; and the chairman of SolarCity, which provides solar power systems. A self-made billionaire, programmer, and engineer—as well as the inspiration for Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark in the Iron Man movies—he has been on the cover of Fortune and Time. In 2013, he was first on the Atlantic’s list of “today’s greatest inventors,” nominated by leaders at Yahoo, Oracle, and Google. To believers, Musk is steering the history of technology. As one profile described his mystique, his “brilliance, his vision, and the breadth of his ambition make him the one-man embodiment of the future.”

Image: Elon Musk - Steve Jurvetson - https://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/18659265152/

Managing a private equity-backed firm brings a unique set of opportunities and challenges for senior executives. On the one hand, private equity (PE) owners provide a degree of freedom and generous compensation unmatched by publicly-held corporations; on the other, PE investors’ focus on results and their limited tolerance for under-performance can result in rapid turnover of management teams if the interests are not aligned.

Most people who work for major organisations are still stuck in old-style bureaucratic mazes of processes and centralised leadership. Directives are given and the troops on the frontlines implement tasks whether they agree with them or not. But this transactional approach to organisational leadership is leaving employees uninterested. According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report, most people around the world are disengaged at work.

We are visual creatures. To help us emphasize this we often use phrases like, “a picture is worth a thousand words” or “seeing is believing.” When we “look” inside ourselves using a functional MRI (fMRI), we can see just how neurologically intensive our visual acuity brain regions are. Even for most of those who are visually impaired, their other senses – hearing, touch and smell – fill the visual void with dynamic spatial maps of what surrounds them. With these neurologic landscapes, we codify our status and activate the memory heuristics from which we elect our next actions.

Over the past three years, we grew our organisation into a healthy South African business, before spreading our wings with our offshore expansion plan. Today, we have practices in the UK, Middle East and Australia, with plans to expand to the US next year.

I first started developing the idea for this business seven or eight years ago, but it was only around four years ago that the conditions were really right to launch. Suddenly, we saw the skills, markets and technology we needed start to converge.

A few months ago, I discovered The Archdruid Report and have been reading it with great interest ever since. Its subtitle is “druid perspectives on nature, culture, and the future of industrial civilization.” It’s not something many business leaders would normally find, and even if they found it, they would probably pass it by as soon as they read the name. Imagine business leaders you know sharing how they’re channeling The Archdruid for their best business ideas.

Pulling into Old Street underground station in London I can with great accuracy predict who will head for the doors of the train. Not that clean-shaven man in the three-piece business suit; nor that Armani-ed woman who’s probably heading for a City skyscraper. No, Old Street (ironically, given the name) is a magnet for tech-oriented twentysomethings. So how does it feel to be a “grey entrepreneur” blinking in the light of Silicon Roundabout?

Image: Start me up: the cafe at Campus London where tech entrepreneurs find inspiration. Photograph: Google

Are you feeling scattered or unfocused? Adding a ritual or two to your day may be just the ticket to snap out of it.

"Rituals are habits that are part of our day-to-day activities that lead to desired outcomes," says Melissa Gratias, who has a PhD in industrial and organizational psychology and is the vice president at Sandler Training. Gratias says she’s seen the professionals with whom she works helped these specific habits help people in a variety of ways.

The digital revolution is now breaching the walls of manufacturing as it continues to disrupt media, finance, consumer products, healthcare, and other sectors. Indeed, the explosion in data and new computing capabilities—along with advances in other areas such as artificial intelligence, automation and robotics, additive technology, and human-machine interaction—are unleashing innovations that will change the nature of manufacturing itself. Industry and academic leaders agree that digital-manufacturing technologies will transform every link in the manufacturing value chain, from research and development, supply chain, and factory operations to marketing, sales, and service. Digital connectivity among designers, managers, workers, consumers, and physical industrial assets will unlock enormous value and change the manufacturing landscape forever.

Corporate boards fail for all kinds of reasons. Some boards lack the appropriate skillsets or experience around the table. Some boards are expertly composed but insufficiently engaged or committed. Others appear to be independent custodians with both hands on the wheel but preexisting relationships with other board members or with management denigrate their objective oversight.

Image: Donald Trump Image Credit: Gage Skidmore/Flickr

The tech sector has never seemed more welcoming for would-be entrepreneurs, says Powa Technologies founder Dan Wagner

Read Securing Britain’s Ambition online now: London business leaders’ game plan to cement economic growth