Life isn’t fair. The world is full of injustice and inequality. Billions live in horrible poverty. Brutal wars kill and maim millions of blameless people. Corrupt governments destroy entire countries’ quality of life. Crooked leaders bilk thousands of investors out of their life savings and drive economies into ruin and throw people out of work. […]
Read post »How well does this describe our world today? These social and economic changes… were uneven and unsettling. They opened up differentials between groups and between different societies. They spawned lust for wealth, envy, and distrust of neighbors. They led to overseas wars, unequal taxation, social turmoil, and the questioning of established authority, royal and religious. […]
Read post »A wise old sage hosted a dinner. Toward the end of the meal, everyone was given fortune cookies and told that they’re holding their future in their hands. The guests eagerly opened them to read the words of wisdom they contained. The paper slips inside each cookie were blank. “Is this a joke?” they asked. […]
Read post »Years ago, an elderly couple went to a country fair. The husband was captivated by an animated psychic promising to tell his age and what kind of person he is. He inserted a coin, and the machine sprang to life. The animatronic clairvoyant peered into her crystal ball, mumbled a few words, and pointed to […]
Read post »Are you leading at the speed of change? If the rate of external change exceeds your rate of internal change, you’re going to be changed. Impermanence and disruptive change is a central life force. This never has, nor ever well, change. Constant, unpredictable, and sometimes very sudden change is as predictable and certain as death […]
Read post »Justin heard that large doses of cod-liver oil were good for his Rottweiler. Each morning he’d put the dog in a headlock, force his jaw open, and pour the oil down his throat. It was always a big fight. One day the dog broke loose, and the oil spilled on the floor. Justin went to […]
Read post »Shift happens. These days lots of shift is hitting our plans. We don’t choose what changes may hit us, but we choose how to respond. When I catch myself whining or taking a trip to Pity City, I often think of W Mitchell. In his highly inspiring book, It’s Not What Happens to You, It’s […]
Read post »“Workers are more adaptive and optimistic about the future than their leaders recognize.” That’s a key conclusion of a major study by Harvard Business School’s Project on Managing the Future of Work and the Boston Consulting Group’s Henderson Institute. The study encompassed 11,000 lower income and middle-skill workers and 6,500 business leaders in 11 countries. […]
Read post »A past Client and long time subscriber sent me an e-mail recalling the successful work we’d done together years ago. He was at the centre of the work we and the CEO were doing on culture and leadership development. They went on to become named as a Top 100 Employer. Part of his e-mail focused […]
Read post »A fascinating and fast paced five minute video has been making the rounds at a few conferences where I’ve been speaking recently. Entitled Shift Happens: Did You Know? the video uses a series of statistics and examples to show the accelerating pace of change creating our turbulent times. Here are a few shift disturbing examples: […]
Read post »I just participated in a conference call with a small group of professional speakers and workshop leaders debating the worldwide societal and organizational changes we’re currently experiencing. It was a continuation of the discussion from my April blog posting (“What in the World is Happening Today”) at https://www.clemmergroup.com/blog/?p=697. I have the scars from starting in […]
Read post »One of the most agonizing parts of writing a new book is choosing a title. In some ways it’s like choosing a name for your new baby; he or she will carry all the associations with his or her name for a lifetime. I wrote the manuscript of this book with the working title of […]
Read post »Last week I introduced the April issue of The Leader Letter by pointing out the world is in the midst of major change. I also suggested that we’re seeing glimmers of hope and signs of renewed growth. Richard Kessener, Out-Patient Pharmacy Manager at Feather River Pharmacy in Paradise, California (I got a taste of paradise […]
Read post »Last week Don Semple from The Royal Bank left a comment at the bottom of my article “Leaders Take Responsibility for Their Choices.” I was intrigued and asked him what were the major changes he made that changed his life. His response below is a classic example of how moving from a below-the-line Victim to […]
Read post »When we’re in the midst of highly turbulent change it’s easy to lose perspective. Here are a few observations I recently came across in my electronic library to put change in historical context. “In times like these, it is helpful to remember that there have always been times like these.” Paul Harvey, American radio commentator […]
Read post »A regular feature of my monthly newsletter, The Leader Letter, has been the section entitled “Thoughts that Make You Go Hmmm….on_____.” Here’s a preview of that section that will appear in the February issue being e-mailed to subscribers next week. “Progress everywhere today does seem to come so very heavily disguised as Chaos.” Joyce Grenfell […]
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