“Leadership” and its development within individuals has become a multi-billion dollar industry. However, what I have observed over the course of my career, and most recently through my work as a leadership development consultant and coach, is that the recipe for becoming an effective leader is seldom – if ever – found outside of oneself. What is the secret??
Recently, I was purging through 30 years of old files, and ran across my ‘special file’ where I kept those unique articles, emails, letters, and notes which were ‘too good’ to throw away. I found an email from 1998 which summarized Dave Packard’s 11 simple rules on how to deal with each other on a daily basis. He believed if we followed these simple rules, we would all emerge as winners – this blog offers a shortened version of the email.
Recently, there has been much fanfare about the importance of back-up singers. In fact there is a new documentary, Twenty Feet from Stardom, that pays tribute to these nameless though gifted performers who stood 20 feet from everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Michael Jackson. I have noticed and admire a single trait of these back-up singers.
This week, I am featuring a guest blog post from Adrian Wood, VP Business Development for Shadowmatch USA. Adrian discusses the concept of “servant leadership” in growing companies and the difference it makes for managers and companies that are trying to scale their teams and organizations.
Recently ousted CEO of JCPenney, Ron Johnson, was slammed for relying too much on intuition versus hard data as he led the revamping of the JCPenney stores. Most will agree that JCP’s new stores are very creative and well done…yet, the company is in a free fall. What went wrong?
Recently, one of my clients in a desperate attempt to remedy one of his ‘blind spots’ simply said: “Can you just give me a book to read so that I can get over this?”
How many times do we find ourselves seeking an ‘easy button’ to navigate through gnarly growing pains?! Darn it – if there were only an easy button to help us on our ‘self-improvement’ journey as leaders! Well, there isn’t.
Most of us are familiar with the philosophy of “having the right folks in the right seats on the bus” when we are building our teams and organizations. We all have the intention of hiring good folks; yet, I would wager that all of us have made poor “people choices” at some point in our career. What can we learn from a highly successful entrepreneur about this charge for aspiring leaders?
Let’s face it: businesses are run by people in power. And we know power comes from many origins. This reality allows those wielding it to use very different approaches and methods to get what they want and need. Much has been written and proclaimed about the various types of power in business. In this post, I offer a few of my own experiences and observations of how power can surface in business – and life.
Recently, I heard a compelling speech on the topic of how to achieve ‘power’ in business. The perspective was relevant to me. I am interested in hearing your perspectives……
Recently I ran across an article touting Marc Benioff’s top leadership secrets in Forbes, which offered incredibly insightful perspectives. I have tried to highlight a few bullets, in my words, from the article referenced above. I have actually watched Marc, his team, and his culture in admiration for years. Their holistic approach to their work and the way in which they contribute has been studied with equal measures of skepticism, reverance, and disdain.