[August 23, 2014] Significant risks to “modern” senior leaders are not having all the best ideas on the table while making decisions and communicating strategy. This includes having all the relevant information available and the thinking behind the best ideas. Both the information and thinking needed is best achieved through encouraging open debate. Successful organizations, lead by some… Read More »
[August 22, 2014] Leaders who find themselves being emotionally drawn into certain situations risk being seen as biased, untrustworthy, fixated, and partisan. The best leaders treat their job as a professional. Senior leaders should be careful about taking things personal in their work. The message sent is that they can be swayed or manipulated by certain issues. Therefore,… Read More »
[August 21, 2014] Anyone spending time in front of the camera of the press knows that the skills needed to come across as credible are different. Likewise in a print media interview, what you know about your job is often less important than your ability to project a well-informed, shrewd, and practical understanding of the subject … and,… Read More »
[August 20, 2014] Mel and Tim were an American soul music duo and one of my favorite singing groups back in my early college years – the 1970s. They were best known for the song “Backfield in Motion” but they sang another song that I listened to and most people have heard. Mel and Tim sang “It’s the… Read More »
[August 20, 2014] A few months back in May, I wrote about the targeting of government leaders using “investigations” as a tool to divert them from doing their job (see links here and here). A few days ago a Texas grand jury indicted Texas Governor Rick Perry for threatening to veto and then vetoing an appropriation for the… Read More »
[August 19, 2014] An advantage that leaders have over others is the passion to get things done, the internal drive to conquer the enemy, to turn a profit, to run a successful enterprise. Yet, a special challenge to all senior leaders, in particular military leaders, is being able to engage with politicians on difficult subjects without acrimony. Politics… Read More »
[August 19, 2014] Pope Francis in his recent visit to South Korea made a strong silent statement on abortion. He did this by stopping to pray at a monument dedicated to aborted babies. The monument is located in a community dedicated to caring for people with severe physical defects, the type used to justify abortion. He also spoke… Read More »
[August 18, 2014] I’ve written in this blog extensively about “adaptability” in leadership (see here, here, and here for some examples). What if adaptability is not up to all the hype we hear about it? Could we be so wrong? Adaptability is critical to senior leadership and of course to all leaders. The flaw of adaptability that sometimes… Read More »
[August 18, 2014] Leaders intrinsically know that the failure to take steps to overcome failure is a recipe for disaster. Whether that failure is in others or themselves, we all believe there must be a formula to get beyond it. Despite this belief, scientists who study failure have discovered that there is a tendency to avoid doing much… Read More »
[August 17, 2014] A fundamental truth about great leadership is the recognition that everyone must have a clear sense of purpose. Otherwise, it will be difficult to decide what to do and how to do it. With the right purpose, informed decisions are possible. Nearly every person in an organization understands what they do and generally how they… Read More »