Gill Corkindale is an executive coach and writer based in London. She recently wrote an article about Baldrige for the Harvard Business Review entitled “A Better Decade for Business is Coming” (December 31, 2009). And she wrote it without using the word “Baldrige” once!

Corkindale lists four things business leaders can do to correct the negative perception of business built during the past decade (Enron’s collapse, dotcom bust, Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, irresponsibility of the banking sector, global recession, declining wages—unless you’re an executive, etc.). Her four recommendations are:

1. Examine your organization systematically. “What is really going on?” she writes. “What needs to be improved?” In other words, conduct a Baldrige assessment to answer these questions and systematically improve your organization.
2. Build a new dialogue for business. Leaders must make ethical behavior, accountability, sustainability, longer-term focus, and community awareness part of the business agenda. Once again, a Baldrige assessment will help you understand how to make these issues part of your agenda and how well you do it.
3. Engage people to make the best possible contribution to the business and wider society. “This means sharing power, information, responsibility, and, of course, rewards,” writes Corkindale. Workforce engagement, a key element of the Baldrige model, considers how you share power, information, responsibility, and rewards.
4. Understand what it really takes to be a leader. “Simplicity is the key.” A Baldrige assessment helps leaders lead by presenting a clear picture of where their organization is today and how it can improve performance tomorrow.

To learn more about integrating Baldrige, click on these articles:

• Is Baldrige Right for Your Organization?
• 10 Questions to Ask about Everything You Do
• A Leader’s Job
• What to Tell Your Boss about Baldrige
• 5 Added Values of the Baldrige Process
• How to Integrate Baldrige
• 10 Steps to an Effective Baldrige Assessment

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