Deal separately with individual performance. To use a public setting as a place where individuals can get their asses handed to them is not useful. It changes the discussion from one where there's a chance people can learn something to one where they spend all their energy covering up.

You write that another concept in need of clarity is the role of the leader. If the CIO wants to collaborate at a peer level, he needs to appreciate that positional power is in the way. He has to find a way to unplug from being the boss. He has to communicate very specifically, "I'm an engineer as well as a VP of engineering." That lets his ideas exist at the same voltage as everyone else's.

What message do smart leaders give about time management? What the organization has control over is what they choose to do, not how many hours there are in a day. If we scope a project wrong, we're not going to be able to make a day with 85 hours in it. If people are working as hard as they can and they're still not going to get there, let them feel some freedom and creativity in how they will get this done. Give them the ability to choose to do less or do it differently. In most high-achieving organizations, people can't work more, so talk about changing the scope rather than working longer, harder, more fatigued and more stupid.

The final message is about corporate culture. What should that message be, and why do so many leaders get it wrong? Culture is not a project; it's a way people describe how well you've managed the company. Where leaders have power is in doing the right things from an organizational process management standpoint: having open and supporting staff meetings, having clear project plans where concerns are worked out, taking a stand for respectful behavior. The whole notion of culture for leaders at any level is this: Run the place in a way that has people feel good about working there, and people will say they love the culture.

But if you attempt to work on culture directly, like [it's] a "thing," you will screw it up. It boils down to three things: Hire well and realize the largest factor is quality of workforce. Have the group behave consistent with the way you say you're going to have it behave. People want to know what the rules are. There's freedom and safety when people understand that the environment has integrity.