This Thanksgiving, I want to recognize the owners and leaders of small- to medium-size businesses whose grit, imagination, focus and tenacity have been fundamental to keeping our economy alive. read more >
Decision-making (like pretty much everything else) has become more complex, nuanced and more turbulent than it was 13 months ago. read more >
At a time when our stress levels can run high, I am taking on “It ain’t what you say. It’s the way that you say it.” read more >
Times that test our organizational culture and values can show us how genuine those fundamentals are and how much of a resource they can be. read more >
Is it any wonder that the phrase “May I provide you with some feedback?” sets up an emotional loop almost guaranteed to grate on nerves and create stress? read more >
Organizations are looking hard at how to make working from home work. The remote worker genie is absolutely not going back in the bottle. read more >
If the organizations we lead are going to survive, they need our focus and attention. And for now, like Sisyphus, our reward is not to move to the next opportunity or challenge, but instead to do it all over again tomorrow. read more >
If you want a simple way to understand how accountability works, or does not, in your organization, look no further than the military. read more >
It is always surprising to me how some of the most common processes in a business can be like a flashing neon sign about major issues in the organization’s culture, structure and execution that are unrecognized and unaddressed. read more >
Talented leaders know that changing their minds without a basis and too often creates organizational chaos. read more >
Normally, as we approach year-end, I look for emerging ideas, books or other resources for organizational leaders. Most of those ideas are practical, if a little bit of a stretch. read more >
Every organization has at least one of those above-average performers, often considered rock-stars, who deliver results, make themselves invaluable, and leave a swath of anger, chaos, and destruction in their wake. read more >
Instead of pointing a finger at millennials, we need to understand that they are now the workforce we must engage to be successful. read more >
An effective leader must be able to do both, respond to new ideas and integrate disruptive thinking. But how can that leader best recognize the better choice for their organization? read more >
I recently got a lesson in team dynamics when I least expected it — watching pickup basketball at the gym. read more >
Somewhere between telling your direct reports what to do and taking the action item yourself is the territory of the leader as coach. read more >
The fired boss is more and more left out of the loop, not consulted, worked around and occasionally even publicly challenged by his direct reports. And the worst part is, the more he is ignored by the organization that reports to him, the more he grasps for control. read more >
Organizational culture is often fuzzy. It is too easy to create a lofty, aspirational set of principles that read well but lose their power when it comes to practical day-to-day operations. That fuzziness is evident in the way most leaders even define culture. read more >
One of the main benefits of being out and about is that a leader gets to see how things really get done. But if your physical presence is rare, you are likely training your employees unintentionally. read more >
The reasons that change projects take too long, cost too much, do not deliver promised results or never get over the line point to failures in leadership far more often than failures in execution. read more >
