Leaders Live in A Glass House with Arjan van Weele

Arjan van Weele, a Professor of Purchasing and Supply Management living in the Netherlands, discusses his perspective on leadership competencies that apply for any leader, no matter where you are within your career journey. Interview Summary JH: The Fourth Industrial Revolution brings unique and new dynamics when it comes to leading. There is a new business context that is happening worldwide,…

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Gray Versus Green: Who Makes the Better Start-Up CEO?

This article was co-authored by Laura Musgrave, Kevin Bijas, and Jeffrey Cohn. “People over 45 basically die in terms of new ideas." said venture capitalist Vinod Khosla in 2011.  “People under 35 are the people who make change happen,” he further asserted.  Taking the exact opposite tack, in a recent CNBC interview, Alan Patricof, founder of Greycroft Partners, an elite venture capital firm,…

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Direction, Alignment, and Commitment with Gerard Coops PhD.

Gerard Coops, Managing Director of HuReMa Consulting in the Netherlands, discusses the fact in a recent survey 80% of CEOs revealed they do not have the talent within their organization to execute on their current strategies. Because I found this disturbing, I wanted to dig deeper into what Gerard believes we can do to correct this leadership failure.  JH: Gerard, let us attack the obvious first…

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Leadership Interview: Go Beyond The Obvious with Anil Joshi

I sat down with Anil Joshi, an International Leadership Expert, to discuss all things leadership. Anil has a reputation of having a "global plug-and-play" mindset.  He grew up in diplomatic circles so his cultural awareness, sensitivity, and experience started from birth and gave Anil an additional advantage as an adaptive business-driven inter-culturalist. Born in China in 1962, he has lived in…

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Leadership Interview: Rethinking The Future of Work

In a recent conversation with Sandile Hlophe, Partner and executive leader with EY-Africa, we discussed some ideas around what the future of work could look like over the next few years.  Even though this interview took place before the COVID-19 pandemic, I still believe the topic will be just as relevant as we emerge from the global disruption.  Leadership Interview Summary JH: I am always…

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The Future of Work Is Flexibility

The future of work is flexibility, and for many, it was an unwelcome surprise.  In the last few years, many organizations have granted employees the ability to adjust their start and end times, work certain days from home, and "allowed" for unlimited personal time off. These are all considerable changes but for many, they long for more. The common theme amongst all these initiatives is…

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Only The Start: Change and Forecasting Comes With Risk

Change seems to occur at an ever-increasing speed, forecasting, especially concerning long term scenarios is an extremely risky business today. Forecasts often lead to disappointments, for management, employees, shareholders and other stakeholders. Because of the complexities at hand, we can always find reasons for why forecasts and change plans didn't work... The following may sound familiar:…

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Candidate Management During a Crisis

I am no stranger to the challenges of candidate management during a crisis. I started my career in executive search right out of college over 13 years ago, so recruiting is work that I've always done and always loved. While in the second year of my profession the great recession hit and had a significant impact on my area of expertise including venture capital, and private equity-backed…

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The Most Misunderstood Aspect Of Great Leadership

I was recently asked what I consider to be the most misunderstood aspect of great leadership; in other words, what makes great leaders great? What immediately came to mind is not only misunderstood, but it also happens to be the most often overlooked element of leadership, and the one which also affords leaders the greatest opportunity for personal, professional, and enterprise growth. If you…

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The Power of Focus

I am frequently asked what it takes to become more productive. My answer is simply to become very, very focused. Focus has always been a powerful characteristic that has served me well in all leadership roles alike. Relentless focus results in aligned priorities, order, discipline, and productivity. That sounds simple enough doesn't it? Then why is this so hard for executives and entrepreneurs?…

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Why Leadership Development and Talent Programs Fall Short

Why are so many leadership development and high potential talent programs continuing to fail, or at the very least, not producing what we hope for? The answer is simple, those at the top of the organization are in denial about their own leadership capability. This is not to point fingers at the top leadership, but rather this should be a call to arms for all of us to take a good look in the…

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Why Best Practices – Aren’t

My thesis is a simple one; Don't copy - create. Don't benchmark against others - benchmark against a unique and better version of you. Don't compete against how others do things, compete against your own thinking. More than 20 years ago I coined the term "next" practices in an effort to focus people forward in their thinking. I've always wondered why any business would want to adopt the same…

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6 Defining Values of a Leadership Culture

Twelve years after launching culture change consulting services, I am finally sitting down to write about six defining values of a leadership culture. These are factors I’ve learned that define whether an organization can improve their Culture or not. No surprise that all six values rise and fall on leadership. Before I unpack the six values, let me paint the backdrop of how it all began. In…

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Follow The Leader

Does the term “Follow the Leader” still apply in today’s world?   We live in an age of “followship”, but does followship imply that a leader is the one being followed?  Success on social media is often defined by the number of followers.  I get that to a certain extent but look at who is being followed.  We have celebrities, professional athletes, and controversial figures with huge…

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10 Exceptional Strategies For Extraordinary Executives

Most extraordinary executives would agree that business practices evolve over time, and our experiences turn into knowledge. My such experience has inspired this article, 10 exceptional strategies for extraordinary executives. As a coach, my goal is always to see my client succeed. I want to high-five them when they hit a home run or score a touchdown. I want them to have experiences that will…

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Success Depends on You Asking the Right Questions

As a team leader, it may be uncomfortable for you to ask the right questions. After all, the people you lead expect you to have answers. While it may give you pause to develop a list of questions for success, a Harvard Business School study indicates it is a really good idea. Consider the following: Are you asking yourself and your team the right questions? Will those questions propel you to…

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