Use this checklist as a “time out” to reflect on your leadership strengths and gaps. When faced with wrenching changes, setbacks, and difficulties do you generally Lead, Follow, or Wallow? What would your team say? How do you know? What percent of your time are you now spending on Technical (applying your expertise and solving […]
Read post »Electronic tools are incredible. They can enhance communications, build relationships, and increase time effectiveness. Electronic tools can also replace true communication with information overload, damage relationships, and overwhelm our day. Electronic tools are vital and valuable, but they can also become vampires sucking our vital time and energy. Is it time you put them down […]
Read post »A long time reader, P.K. Seshadri, sent this “quip to enjoy and use in your future posts: An amateur photographer was invited to dinner with friends and took along a few pictures to show the hostess. She looked at the photos and commented ‘These are very good! You must have a good camera.’ He didn’t […]
Read post »It was an eerie coincidence! Maybe it’s because Halloween is about to pounce on us … I had just read my old colleague Jack Zenger, and his colleagues Joe Folkman and Scott Edinger’s excellent article in this month’s issue of Harvard Business Review. Entitled “Making Yourself Indispensible”, the article builds on the strong research and […]
Read post »My last post reviewed Martin Seligman’s new book, Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being. Here are a few key excerpts: “When asked what, in two words or fewer, positive psychology is about, Christopher Peterson, one of its founders, replied, ‘Other people.’ Very little that is positive is solitary… Other people are the […]
Read post »Since the mid-eighties I’ve been an avid follower of Martin Seligman’s leading-edge work at the University of Pennsylvania. He began his distinguished psychology career in the late sixties studying pessimism, learned helplessness, and depression. His two previous books, Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life and Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive […]
Read post »Within 10 minutes of Tuesday’s blog being posted (“Changing Seasons, Changing Skills, Habits, and Perspectives”) an alert reader sent me an e-mail entitled “For Pete’s Sake,” pointing out that I’d incorrectly credited Bob Seger as writer of the song, “Turn! Turn! Turn!” from Ecclesiastes. It was actually Pete Seeger. Mia culpa! Sorry Pete! I hope […]
Read post »I’ve been an avid reader of Harvard Business Review for over 35 years. It’s often filled with leading edge research, thoughtful observations, and useful approaches to personal, team, and organization leadership. Every few months an issue like May’s comes along bulging with lots of great articles that I file in my electronic database. The regular […]
Read post »I recently awoke to a pleasant surprise in my e-mail. I’ve been included on a list of the world’s "top 30 most influential leadership gurus." I am especially honored to be in the company of leaders that I’ve learned so much from, such as Warren Bennis, Tom Peters, Ken Blanchard, Jim Collins, Stephen Covey, Marshall […]
Read post »A reader responded to a blog question about executive teams I raised in a January post ("Have you fallen and can’t get up?") with a story of how she has personally fallen, and is having trouble getting up. She leads a group of experts in a professional organization who are extremely disdainful of her and […]
Read post »“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” – Confucius, ancient Chinese thinker and social philosopher “… the most successful teams had leaders who actively managed the groups’ learning efforts. Teams that most successfully implemented the […]
Read post »My last blog post featured an inspiring verse on the power of habit to enable or enslave us. Our habits make or break us. A habit is a learned behavior causing us to think and act automatically. Many times, we’re not aware of the hundreds of tiny and bigger habits we’ve acquired over our lifetime. […]
Read post »Like finding a $20 dollar bill in the pocket of a jacket you haven’t worn for a while, it’s always delightful to rediscover inspirational gems. Over the past few weeks I’ve been working with a very progressive and delightful Client to finalize a two-day management training workshop we’ve been customizing for their senior and middle […]
Read post »Recently I was a panelist at our local Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals meeting. Each of us on the panel was asked to give 10 minutes of reflections to the young professionals starting their careers on “I wish I knew then, what I know now.” This was followed by a very spirited and lively question […]
Read post »The first week of May I facilitated a large (130 participants) four-day leadership development and planning “Advance” for Aga Khan University (AKU) at the Great Rift Valley Lodge in Kenya. I have never been to Africa before. It was an extraordinary and eye-opening trip. A big highlight was working with a group of exceptional leaders […]
Read post »Much of North America enjoyed unseasonably warm Easter weekend weather that was more like summer than spring. It was perfect timing for me to get my soft top roadster out of winter hibernation and let the wind blow through my few remaining hairs while welcoming back the warm sunshine on the open road. This is […]
Read post »We’ve heard a number of inspiring stories and seen many examples of personal and team excellence during the Vancouver Winter Olympics. “The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur.” – Vince Lombardi “At the winter […]
Read post »Right around now, many people who resolved to make positive changes this year are floundering. It’s easy to get pulled down by a few slips off our intended path. Pick up a cup of water or coffee and estimate how heavy it is. Now hold it straight out sideways at shoulder height. How much heavier […]
Read post »A New Year’s resolution is too often a good intention that goes in one year and out the other. To change habits we often need inspiration and action – or “inspir-action.” Here are action steps to build habits that continually move us out of wallowing, beyond following, to leading: • This is the perfect time […]
Read post »One evening I was slowly eating my dinner with Heather. She waited and waited for me to finish and finally asked me to hurry up. I told her I was mindfully eating by savoring every bite of the delicious meal she had prepared. She told me to “savor faster.” “Fast savoring” is an apt oxymoron […]
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