When you take a look in the mirror, what do you see? Is it the confident, articulate leader that others see? Is it the approachable, open, yet decisive leader that you believe yourself to be? Or could there be another kind of leader lurking in the shadows?
Marshall Goldsmith tells an interesting story about the behaviors [...]
One of the critical things that a leader must possess is honesty. Not only in the sense that they ought to be honest in their behavior, but also in that they must call things as they see them [see If You Can Only Focus on One Thing...]. Without doubt, leaders will come upon [...]
The first Monday of September is Labor Day in the United States, a day recognized around the world — albeit on different days and terms (International Workers’ Day or May Day in other countries) -– to celebrate social and economic achievement. It is a time to recharge and refuel, and constitutes a yearly national tribute [...]
How often do you look through your organization chart? How closely do you look? What do you look for?
Some executives survey their org charts with a sense of achievement, while others look for ways to cut costs; but often a more productive path is to identify new synergies and think through ways to bring those [...]
There are plenty of books and quite a few blogs that focus on good leadership. They talk about what needs to be done and when, they discuss decision making, strategy, team building and collaboration. But what about bad leadership? It seems that when it comes to bad leadership, there is very little to be found.
However, [...]
Almost 30 years ago, Michael Porter identified the five competitive forces that shape business strategy. This ground-breaking work was a holistic way of looking at industry/business. Porter focuses on the need to step back from the details of running your business so that you can identify the strategic objectives that will deliver value across your [...]
Leaders exist at all levels of an organization. From the newest interns to the most seasoned executives, leaders can be identified by their drive, their passion and their willingness to take responsibility. But sometimes a leader needs to be unearthed, provided with opportunity and given the support to express their “inner leader”. Others may have [...]
Seth Godin has an interesting post about the process of reading. He points out that there are important differences in the way that we read different types of books. Think about it yourself. When I read fiction I go along for the story. I want an experience that I cannot find anywhere else. But a [...]
In good times, it is rather easy to keep employees motivated to “ride the wave.” This goes without saying. However, business leaders are not hired to lead only during good times. In fact, true leadership reveals itself in times of difficulty. Martin Luther King Jr. put this perspective into great words when he stated, “The [...]
One aspect of leadership that is often overlooked in the rush to achieve quarterly or year-end results is succession. The myopia that can affect even the most experienced leaders can have a significant impact not only on personal, divisional or even company-wide performance — I believe it has the potential to affect entire industries.
Now, when [...]
