Professor Rita McGrath: The End of Competitive Advantage

Developing a successful organizational strategy isn’t easy, especially in an unpredictable business climate. Navigating a shifting landscape requires leaders to abandon pre-conceived notions and think differently, according to Rita Gunther McGrath, a professor in the Business School’s Executive Education program. A globally recognized expert on innovation and growth strategy, McGrath argues that to maintain a competitive advantage in times of change, organizations must protect their key resource — personnel. “One of the few sources of advantage left is going to be that core group of people who carry the culture, who carry the norms, who are the secret sauce of the place,” McGrath says in this episode of Columbia Bizcast, which highlights the critical importance for leaders to create a culture where all employees feel safe. “All leaders need to create psychological safety, need to communicate up and down the organization, need to be able to see what’s going on out there, need to be able to hear uncomfortable information and not lash out at the person bringing it and so forth,” says McGrath. “If you think about it, organizations would benefit by that style of leadership becoming more prevalent.”