A year ago this week my Leadership Chat Co-Founder/Co-Host Steve Woodruff and I met at the SOBCon conference here in Chicago. Everyone who attends the conference knows that their career (and, in many ways, their life) will change dramatically over the next year because of the influence the people they meet will have on them […]
“The basic and seemingly paradoxical truth of GTY (Greater Than Yourself) is that truly great leaders in life,” said Charles Roland, “become so because they cause others to be greater than themselves.” The words sounded familiar. “Who said that?” I asked Charles. “Well, unless you’re a ventriloquist, I did,” he said mischievously. Thus begins chapter […]
Steve Woodruff and I decided to make tomorrow night’s (April 12th) Leadership Chat topic about leading your customer. Is it even possible to actually lead your customer? Absolutely. You can lead your customer; and I believe Abraham Lincoln and Steve Jobs are brilliant examples of how to do so successfully. Lincoln is a glorious example […]
I was having lunch recently with a CEO of a private company who I am fortunate to have as a friend and he mentioned the concept of “valor in leadership.” He was concerned that it was, in essence, becoming a lost art. When I gave my mind permission to wander off to images of valor […]
I was fortunate in many ways to “grow up” in my career within a “Giant.” The $750 million dollar business unit I led had major competitors, but we were the leader in our industry. Given that the products I was responsible for were all FDA-regulated, our marketing revolved around the art and science of relationships…and […]
The good news: every organization – be it a business, division, department, project, group, or team – has the ability create predictable success. The bad news: it requires a lot of work, some early struggle, includes a period of fun, and finally a trip through some white-water to get there. How do I know? I […]
I’ve wanted to write this blog post for a while, and I was happy to see that the issue of introversion in leadership became a meaty topic at Leadership Chat Tuesday night. I had raised it as an issue because a CEO I work with had said that a very senior level executive on her […]
Much has been written and debated about the value of social media in a real-world context. Malcolm Gladwell has decried its true ability to bring about social change while at the same time news organizations around the world marvel at its ability during catastrophes – such as the one we’ve all just witnessed in Japan […]
It can’t be escaped – the impact of corporate culture on talent management and organizational success, that is. Even this weekend as I was sipping hot chocolate at Starbucks while talking with a goddess friend it came up in conversation. She took a fabulous new VP of Marketing job at a well-known, successful company working […]
It’s time. Yes, it’s finally time. We’ve danced sophisticatedly around the topic for months now at Leadership Chat, and it’s simply time to face it head-on. Many of us have personal fears and they affect our ability to succeed as leaders. We know that as humans we have a fear of failure that rears its […]