April 17, 2011
The New York Times author of the weekly “Corner Office” column, Adam Bryant, recently published his book based on interviews with 70 chief executives regarding the qualities that CEOs share that are essential for success. As the NY Times says, “These aren’t theories. They come from decades of collective experience of top executives who have… Read more
April 10, 2011
Culture is often depicted as “touchy feely,” one of those “California” ideas that is a good idea but comes second to focusing on the bottom line. I challenge that thinking. Professor John Kotter of Harvard did an 11 year study of more than 200 blue-chip enterprises in 222 industries and found: “Corporate culture can have… Read more
March 28, 2011
How do leaders change their corporate culture? Like the old joke about eating an elephant, the answer is one bite at a time. The book, Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization, is the result of a 10 year study of over 24,000 people. Authors Dave Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer-Wright… Read more
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRhZLR3aw0Q] In this 5 minute video, Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, answers the question, how do you change a culture if you are not the leader. His answer, which he credits the book, Tribal Leadership , is triads. Triads are the subject of chapter 10 in the book. “At its most basic level, a triad… Read more
March 21, 2011
The requirements for leadership today are more challenging than ever before. Business leaders are faced with complexity & uncertainty that requires wise judgment and fast action. Who helps you make the tough calls? I just read (and highly recommend), The Third Opinion: How Successful Leaders Use Outside Insight to Create Superior Results, by Dr. Saj-nicole… Read more
February 13, 2011
Most people don’t negotiate—they fight. And when people fight, everyone loses. On Thursday, March 3, Master Negotiator and Vistage Speaker Jack Kaine is speaking to our Vistage Key Group. Click Here to see a short video preview of his talk. Negotiating is nothing more than gaining the favor of people from whom you want things… Read more
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_iGdiYO7gI] Many of us hate conflict, but what if the source of most of our problems was not conflict, but agreement? Author and Professor Jerry Harvey contends, “The inability to cope with (manage) agreement, rather than the inability to cope with (manage) conflict, is the single most pressing issue of modern organizations.” He finds that… Read more
December 5, 2010
I can’t stop thinking about the presentation Vistage speaker, Reggie Marra, gave to my group recently. He talked about integral theory and the importance of looking at everything from different perspectives. Many of us have a core value of integrity, which means” the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished.” (Dictionary.com) Integral comes from the… Read more
November 8, 2010
At the Vistage National CEO Conference, author Patrick Lencioni taught us how to get naked and shed our fears that sabotage client loyalty. Lencioni is the author of Getting Naked: A Business Fable About Shedding The Three Fears That Sabotage Client Loyalty (J-B Lencioni Series) At its core, getting naked boils down to the ability… Read more
October 17, 2010
My friend Tony Schwartz who is the author of the book, The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working: The Four Forgotten Needs That Energize Great Performance, offers these tips for a better way to lead: When you start to feel angry or anxious, take a deep breath, in to a count of 3, out to a… Read more
