[October 7, 2013] People make assumptions1 on just about every aspect of their life. It is a simple fact of life that we do not know everything and those knowledge gaps are filled by assumptions. Put another way, assumptions are mental shortcuts that save us time and effort since we don’t check out all the information surrounding the… Read More »
[October 6, 2013] George Washington came forward as the most significant leader in the founding of the United States of America and became known as the Father of the Country. To select George Washington as an important senior leader for this profile was important. I wanted to select Abraham Lincoln originally but eventually decided to go with Washington… Read More »
[October 5, 2013] The photograph accompanying this article is famous in many respects. It is a photo taken June 6, 1944 of the Omaha Beach landing during World War II. It is used to symbolically represent courage. More accurately it is symbolic of physical courage. Moral courage, on the other hand, is more difficult to show symbolically and… Read More »
[October 4, 2013] “Popularity is not leadership.” – Richard Marcinko, US Navy Seal, Author The saying that leaders need to be popular to get things done is a myth. However, there is some confusion about this in the workplace and among leaders and lay people alike. Certainly, leaders do not want people to hate them because that… Read More »
[October 3, 2013] For any leader, one of their most important tasks is to give inspiration to people in the organization to carry out the mission. The most talented leader not only provides employee enthusiasm but also provides the motivation for their boss(es), peers, and customers. This is what we mean when we say a leader provides motivation1.… Read More »
[October 2, 2013] In Part 1 of this blog on “Leading Transitions”, we saw that the way to ensure a smooth change and reduce the risk involved, is to learn from others’ mistakes. Part 2 of this blog will go into more detail about the lessons learned. With a weakened and changing economy (e.g., technological advances), it is… Read More »
[October 1, 2013] Today I’m adding more books that I found interesting: Outliers: The Story of Success. Malcolm Gladwell. In this book the author seeks to convince us of the notion that success is not a function of innate ability and IQ. Gladwell focuses on other things like what income level, culture, and time of a child’s birth, as… Read More »
[October 1, 2013] Senior executive leadership displays itself in many ways. And so does success. Today I’m using the Marriott hotel chain to discuss senior leadership values (see disclaimer below). I do have considerable user-level experience with a variety of hotels across the world as part of my job. On average, I spend 100 days in hotels annually. … Read More »
[September 30, 2013] Tonight at 12:01 am, there exists a possibility of a government “shutdown”. For clarity, there is no complete shutdown and despite the hype we hear from the media, a complete shutdown has never happened. What do we make of this situation from a leadership position? I just reposted “The Purpose of Divisiveness” from a few… Read More »
[September 30, 2013] For some reason the “Purpose of Divisiveness” post from 26 September does not work. Here it is reposted. Yesterday I was listening to the news on the radio while driving. I don’t remember the specific channel or who was talking but I do remember the news reporter replaying comments from a U.S. Representative (purposefully unnamed). Our… Read More »