In their book, Learning to Lead, Warren Bennis and Joan Goldsmith, write, “To be authentic is literally to be your own author (the words derive from the same Greek root), to discover your native energies and desires, and then find your own way of acting on them. When you have done that, you are not […]
Read post »At a leadership conference years ago, I shared the stage with the CEO of a top-performing company known for its powerful combination of management discipline and people-focused leadership culture. He illustrated the defining role of vision, values, and purpose with a great personal example. He told us he called a friend and got this message; […]
Read post »A young boy came home and told his dad that the other kids kept stealing his pencils at school. The father stomped off to the school to complain. “It’s not about the pencils,” he bellowed to his son’s teacher, “I get plenty of those from work. It’s the principle of stealing that bothers me most.” […]
Read post »As legend has it, Alexander the Great was leading his forces across a scorching terrain. For eleven days, they marched on. The soldiers were exhausted, and their throats parched. On the twelfth day, the advance guard brought Alexander a helmet containing a cup or two of all the water they could find. The troops watched […]
Read post »It’s incredibly frustrating for our family to follow the COVID isolation rules while many families we know don’t. What’s been especially infuriating is seeing so many political leaders returning from out of country vacations. Most are directly violating the non-essential travel rules/guidelines drafted by their own governments — for the rest of us little people. […]
Read post »Is your organization suffering from truth decay? Honesty, integrity, and trust are critical in chaotic times. We need everyone actively engaged in looking for innovative new ways to deal with unprecedented disruptions. In their study, Innovation by All, Great Place to Work concluded organizations with high-trust cultures involve and engage many more employees than most […]
Read post »How big is your organization’s aspire/live gap? Does your rhetoric match reality? Is your audio synced with your video? Research and advisory company, Gartner, recently surveyed 7,500 employees and nearly 200 HR leaders of global companies and had in-depth interviews with 100 HR leaders. They found “on average, 69% of employees don’t believe in the […]
Read post »At this fall’s Canadian Society for Training and Development conference I am delivering a full-day pre-conference workshop on November 11, Powerful New Approaches to Building Extraordinary Leadership and Coaching Skills, and a 90 minute conference session on November 13, Revolutionary Leadership Development that Doubles Learner Motivation. In their eNewsletter CSTD shone “the Speaker Spotlight” on […]
Read post »Research shows that extraordinary leaders are made, not born. Ultimately it boils down to motivation. How much does a leader want to move their skills from good to great? Perhaps an even more important question is why. Why do you want to lead? I recently came across Harvard Business School professor Bill George’s article on […]
Read post »It’s really annoying to watch a video with the audio slightly out of sync. Too often this is what people see from their leaders in matching their behaviors to their bold proclaimed core values. Here are a few examples of how leaders in extraordinary organizations ensure they’re role models of the organization’s values: The CEO […]
Read post »As part of a larger culture development effort, we’ve worked with dozens of executive teams over the years to articulate or revise their core values. An almost universal core value is some variation of respect, integrity, or equality, or fairness. Whether our espoused or aspirational values become the real or lived values to everyone inside […]
Read post »According to behavioral sciences research cited in “Connect, Then Lead,” the cover article in the July-August issue of Harvard Business Review, “when we judge others — especially our leaders — we look first at two characteristics: how lovable they are (their warmth, communion, or trustworthiness) and how fearsome they are (their strength, agency, or competence).” […]
Read post »Last week a reader asked for advice on the best way to craft a vision and mission statement for their organization. Beware! This could be a big trap. I often poll my speaking or workshop audiences and ask for a show of hands on how many participants’ organizations have a vision, values, or mission statement. […]
Read post »Chris recently sent me this e-mail putting his finger on a vital coaching and developing skill: “In your March newsletter, you reference your leadership wheel and I enjoyed reading the results of your findings as put into that model. I am currently working with a person who is in a leadership role and while he […]
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