As I listen to the news and see all the chaos that is born out of all the various beliefs, religions, races, gender, etc., in the world, I have to wonder if this is not somehow tied to that which we prize so much in … Read more
A recent Harvard Business Review article described respect as the MOST important leadership behavior to employees. Christine Porath surveyed over 20,000 employees and found that even when leaders know this is important, they struggle to show respect for their employees. Additionally, her research shows that … Read more
Recently I gave a talk to about 40 entrepreneurs in Seattle on Intentional Culture for Small Business Week. I was asked the question if “purpose” and “intention” are one and the same in a business. It was an interesting question and I had to think … Read more
“The Ideal Factor” – a shared intent by everyone in the business to improve people’s lives – keeps renewing and strengthening great businesses through good times and bad. – Jim Stengel, Grow: How Ideals Power Growth and Profit at the World’s Greatest Companies, 2011 Do you have an … Read more
What is “Leadership Character?” According to Fred Kiel’s recent book, Return on Character, the following are the top 8 character traits of great leadership: Displayed and demanded high moral principles. Embraced a worldview of positive beliefs. Developed a higher level of mental complexity. Sought out … Read more
How many times have you promoted your best performers only to see them struggle as a manager or leader? A client recently promoted his top sales person to lead the team and the entire team’s performance went down double digits. Why does this happen and … Read more
A great piece in the New York Times last week by Daniel Goleman was an excellent reminder about what good leadership is and isn’t, and it definitely includes developed emotional intelligence. Although emotional intelligence, (or EQI as it is commonly referred to), has many components, … Read more
Duff McDonald wrote a great piece in the New York Times today debating whether or not one can be taught to lead. As he says, all of the big business schools say it in their mission statements and taglines – “developing leaders who make a … Read more
To quote Warren Bennis, “Managers do things right and leaders do the right thing.” The reason I bring this up was a recent conversation I had with a manager. He was telling me about all the work he had done and was frustrated because there … Read more
I was having coffee with a friend and colleague of mine today, Dr. Julie Miller, and she was talking about her new venture. She’s had a very successful career and found that she wanted to do more. Last year she created a program that really … Read more