[December 07, 2014] Today is a day to pay our respect to U.S. service members and civilians who were killed or wounded on December 7, 1941 when the Japanese Imperial Navy attacked the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. I have been fortunate to have spoken to several military survivors of the attack and hear their amazing… Read More »
[December 05, 2014] They think it’s pretty darn important. Well, that’s no surprise … but there’s much more to this story, of course. While most senior leaders know a great deal about leadership, there remains neither a clarifying definition nor consensus on the key traits of what makes a great leader (thus my blog). There are, however, components… Read More »
[December 04, 2014] Ever witness your boss express his anger at someone by screaming or cussing? If you have, you are one of the majorities of people that have had the experience. This type of anger expression is relatively mild but can be worse and its study can provide us with an opportunity to learn a leadership lesson.… Read More »
[December 03, 2014] Traditionally, America has been called a “melting pot,” welcoming people from many countries in their hope to find freedom, new opportunities, and a better way of life. By custom, those immigrating to the United States assimilate into the new way of life found here. The U.S. military is a strong contributor for those choosing that… Read More »
[December 02, 2014] Politicians in the United States have recently been twisting themselves into knots trying to make sense of how to deal with illegal immigrants within existing law. Tom Ferguson over at his blog Heart Matters brings to our attention that the debate over immigration is actually a debate being contested at several levels of leadership. Here’s… Read More »
[December 01, 2014] If you ask a person what makes a good leader, they will tell you about the attributes of leadership – those attributes that make them comfortable with a person who leads. For example, a common attribute in a leader that people want is good judgment. Not surprisingly, this trait is one of many traits social… Read More »
[November 29, 2014] You would think it obvious that leaders seek to better themselves. Yet I find in my work with leaders that this is often not the case. Over the Thanksgiving Day holiday period I reached out to a number of junior leaders worldwide (mostly military) to encourage them but also to find out what were their… Read More »
[November 28, 2014] A theme in the understanding of leadership is that there are so many variations on its style and quality, that it keeps academics in business simply studying the complexities of the subject. To those of us who want to learn directly from the successes of leaders, we take a more nuanced look at how current… Read More »
[November 25, 2014] When senior leaders talk about what they do and why they are so successful, one of their personal themes is that they’ve worked with other great people. “Who are these great people?” “What makes well-meaning people do such a good job that we should pay close attention to them?” The most successful leaders, throughout history,… Read More »
[November 24, 2014] Ask senior leaders about the people they lead and the conversation will eventually turn to the difficulties caused by a small group of well-meaning people. The question we should ask is, “Who are those well-meaning people and should leaders exercise caution with them?” Successful leaders who act with knowledge and wisdom in their dealings with… Read More »