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The Next Generation of CEOs: 10 CEO Ready Leaders
Lots of executives aspire to become a CEO, but few actually possess the leadership chops to pull it off. As someone who earns their living as a leadership advisor to Fortune 500 CEOs, I always keep a sharp eye peeled for up and coming leaders. The 10 leaders profiled below represent different industries, different disciplines, and even a few different countries, but they all share one thing in…
100% Of Companies Have This Problem
Process... just the mere use of the word can spread fear and panic in the workplace. This sad reality exists for a reason and 100% of companies unnecessarily suffer from a process problem. They suffer to varying degrees, but they are nonetheless suffering. The good news is bad process is one of the easiest things for leaders to remedy. By simply being willing to stop the madness and reclaim the…
The Case For Ubiquitous Leadership
Do you work in an environment that fosters leadership at every level, or just at the top of the org chart? You can either chasten people for attempting to lead, or encourage them to take risks, to explore opportunities, and to make decisions. If you want to create a culture of leadership, you must succeed in creating leadership ubiquity. I’ve written often on the value of creating a culture of…
Leading In An Avalanche
The point I want you to take away from the video below and the text that follows is an avalanche need not always end in disaster. Pushing the envelope is something all leaders must get comfortable with. It's when leaders push themselves and those they lead past comfort zones that great things happen. Sometimes leaders need to cause an avalanche, and sometimes they'll need to react to one caused…
The Secret To Making Better Hires
Why do so many companies struggle when it comes to making great hires? They overlook the obvious. In other words, the people doing the hiring fail to understand, look for, and qualify the one characteristic that indicates the certainty of a good hire. While companies screen for many things, they often miss the gold standard litmus test – they play a game of chance when it’s simply not necessary.…
Leadership & President’s Day
Since we’re headed into President’s Day weekend, I thought I’d re-post a piece that examines the leadership characteristics of the two Presidents for which the holiday is celebrated; George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln. It's an astute person who studies history and then applies the lessons learned to their present-day life. In the text that follows I’ll look at the unimpeachable character of…
The Power Of “What If”
What if? What if you could reinvent your business? What if you could change the perception of your brand? What if you could break from the status quo? What if you could attract better talent? What if you could reenergize your corporate culture? What if you could make the changes you know you need to make? What if? To the one, great leaders aggressively pursue what if – do you? I’ve always said…
Leadership, Timing and Opportunity
What's more important - skill, luck, or timing? The message I want to deliver is this; opportunity and timing are inexorably linked. So much so, that if you don't think that timing is everything - think again. Even a cursory review of current events shows it doesn't really matter whether you're a politician, investment banker, CEO, or just an average citizen - when it comes to making a simple…
Attitude Reflects Leadership
My question for you today is a simple one: ”How’s Your Attitude?” Show me a CEO with a bad attitude and I’ll show you a poor leader- attitude reflects leadership and your overall impact. While this sounds simple enough at face value, I have consistently found one of the most often overlooked leadership attributes is having a consistently positive attitude. As an executive, how can you expect to…
The Disconnected Leader
Even though few would dispute the value of being an engaged leader, many still do not practice what they preach. The harsh reality is great numbers of leaders continue to operate in a vacuum by sequestering themselves away in the corner office and attempting to lead from afar. Trust me when I tell you that being out of touch is never a good position to find yourself in as the CEO. I rarely come…
Leadership Is About Leading
Leadership is about leading. Leadership is a 24-7-365 endeavor. In fact, I'd go so far as to say the best leaders view what they do as a calling and not just a job. If you're a leader, what you do in public or private, in silence or in word, and in thought or indeed will be observed, evaluated, and critiqued - count on it. There are simply no free passes for leaders. Don't believe me? Just look…
The Year End Bonus – Do You Or Don’t You?
Bonus or no bonus? That is the question. This is the time of year where expectations are high, and so is the volume of chatter around the water cooler in anticipation of that great corporate tradition - the year-end bonus. So what’s it going to be this year; a turkey, an extra paid day off, a cash bonus, stock/options/warrants, something creative, or nothing at all? In this article, I’ll take a…
Leadership And Making Choices
Choice; it’s a simple, yet critical aspect of leadership. Academics and business theorists often gloss over the basics of leadership preferring to trivialize their importance. It’s far too easy for those with an elitist approach to leadership to dismiss simply as sophomoric, and obvious as irrelevant - nothing could be further from reality. Leadership has little to do with complex theory, but…
Leadership and White Space
In my most recent column on Forbes I briefly discussed the value of white space as it relates to "span of control" but felt the topic deserved a deeper dive. Here's something you might not want to hear, but you should definitely take to heart - If you're having difficulty ordering your world, it's nobody's fault but yours. I don't care how busy you are, but I do care about what you accomplish -…
5 Signs You’re Not As Smart As You Think
5 Signs You’re Not As Smart As You Think-- My question is this: Is your intellect an asset or liability? All one has to do is watch a very bright person defend their position to understand what I'm driving at with today's post. Observing intelligent people lecture, spin, posture, position, cajole, argue, rationalize, or justify their beliefs in order to "get the win" is oftentimes entertaining,…
Does Size Really Matter?
Does size really matter? Should you go big or go home, or does quality win out over quantity? The fascination business leaders have with size has always both intrigued yet perplexed me. Is empire building and the pursuit of category dominance a healthy thing, or the corporate equivalent of the road to Perdition? I’ll frame the debate – you decide. It should be obvious to all; an enterprise not…