[October 15, 2013] As senior executive leaders, it is important that we deal with surprises appropriately. At the executive level we are fond of saying we don’t like surprises, simply because surprises tend to be very large and very bad. How senior leaders deal with a surprise can determine success or failure in our organizations. “What you see is… Read More »
[October 10, 2013] Senior executive leaders need to possess not just more experience and focus, but they must also be capable of exceptional performance. This performance should be an order of magnitude better than average. When I was a new second lieutenant at the Infantry Officer Basic Course in Fort Benning, Georgia, my class of 300 officers were… Read More »
[October 9, 2013] Understanding the psychology of human beings; what motivates us and focuses our employee talent is something every senior executive leader wants. From the beginning of the human race in the most primitive settings to our modern world, a good story is something we all can relate to and remember. Thus, the use of storytelling1 in… 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 »
[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] Organizational “transitions” are those events when an organization takes risk to change its processes. Transitions involve major changes to the organization. Organizational transitions are either internally or externally driven, require significant resources and planning to surmount, and put the organization at some level of danger of failure. Some organizations are in a near constant state… Read More »
[September 28, 2013] “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” – Henry Ford Keeping an organization on track (Staying on Plan) is a difficult task. There are seemingly endless list of obstacles/challenges that hinder leader, team, employee, and organizational performance and mission accomplishment. Some goals are externally imposed, like the… Read More »