The Philippine Typhoon

By | November 10, 2013

[November 10, 2013]  It is now just becoming known the horrific damage done by Typhoon Haiyan this past Friday.  The ability of senior leaders to deal with crisis is an attribute that is often overlooked until such an event occurs. Senior leaders in the Philippines and across the world are ramping up aid to this unfortunate nation after… Read More »

Profile: Lady Gaga

By | November 10, 2013

[November 10, 2013]  My previous famous leader profiles may have been biased toward world legendary people, all of which proved themselves over decades.  The greatest leaders possess a long-term record of success. However, this profile of “Lady Gaga,” the stage name for a recently famous musician and philanthropist, shows that leaders can have millions of followers if you… Read More »

Characteristic #31: Experienced Judgment

By | November 9, 2013

[November 09, 2013]  Judgment is the essence of leadership.  The ability of first-class leaders to make good judgments and the cumulative impact of those judgments will determine the quality, effectiveness, and success of the leaders’ organizations. The exercise of good judgment in the workplace is the special quality sought in leaders of all kinds.  In particular, this is… Read More »

Characteristic #30: Having Big Ideas

By | November 8, 2013

[November 08, 2013]  Senior executive leaders develop big ideas. Big ideas are a framework, a way of making sense of something about the world we live in that solves a problem or makes something better.  They help us “see,” to organize desperate facts and details into a picture that gives us insight. Charles Darwin wrote that his theory… Read More »

The Great War

By | November 7, 2013

[November 07, 2013]  Next year in 2014, the 100th anniversary of World War I will be marked by a number of significant events pointing to the heroic sacrifice made by brave men and women of the United States.  “The War to End all Wars” or “The Great War,” as it has been called, was being fought while the… Read More »

Senior Leaders and Big Lies

By | November 7, 2013

[November 07, 2013]  Over the past few decades and recently in the past few weeks, there has been a lively discussion about the big lies told by politicians and the impact of those lies.  Name any US President in the last 50 years and just about anyone can tell you about a “whopper” that had a highly visible… Read More »

Senior Leader: Operator versus Intellect

By | November 6, 2013

[November 06, 2013]  In many organizations there is a bit of a split persona – in particular, as it applies to those who are selected to advance to the more senior leadership positions. There are those people who are the exceptional and successful operators, who in the US Army we call the “warfighter.” These are those folks who… Read More »

Core Values: Korean Air

By | November 5, 2013

[November 05, 2013]  As we have seen repeated here, senior executive leadership exhibits itself and its successes in several ways.  Today, I will use Korean Airlines to show senior leader values (see disclaimer below).  Annually, I travel over 125,000 miles by plane.  This level of use gives me an appreciation for good service and how international airline carriers… Read More »

Characteristic 29: Dealing with Crisis

By | November 4, 2013

[November 04, 2013]  The best way to deal with a crisis is to simply be prepared.  Planning, resourcing, rehearsing, organizing, and placing the right people on the job is key.  The upside?  Lives and property are saved and organizations survive.  The downside?  It detracts from other priorities and is expensive.  It is difficult to replicate crises experiences but… Read More »

Reading List (Update)

By | November 3, 2013

[November 03, 2013]  Today, more books that I found especially interesting:  The Spirit to Serve: Marriott’s Way by J.W. Marriott, Jr. and Kathi Ann Brown  A well-written, inspirational, and easy to read book that contains business tenets of the successful Marriott Hotel chain.  He talks about how through sheer determination Marriott shot from the small cottage to the… Read More »