As a member of the CEO Connection team, I have the opportunity to attend CEO Boot Camps with our members several times a year, the most recent event having occurred here in Chicago last week. The night before each Boot Camp we have a dinner event featuring a seasoned CEO sharing lessons they’ve learned in […]
A few days ago I had the opportunity to gather with fellow parishioners at my beautiful, old, Italian church to talk about politics. I know what you’re thinking…we were mixing religion and politics, a heady combination. It turned out to be a fascinating conversation about more than the current political issues; on which many of […]
In the world of leadership it’s very common to hear of others’ success. Announcements about “movers and shakers” and various corporate promotions often find their way into our in-boxes. Just last week this happened to a friend of mine who asked, “why do I feel sick in the pit of my stomach?” When we are […]
The Achilles Heel: that fatal weakness which can bring you down despite your overall strength. For otherwise outstanding leaders, it is a lack of clarity. You may be a brilliant motivator and leader of great character who empowers their team for success and inspires them to move to action. You may be trustworthy and a leader who lives […]
There are world-changing leaders who inspire their followers to a shining city upon a hill, and there are misguided leaders who head their followers “off a cliff.” And then there are real-world leaders like Steve Ferkau who inspire hundreds of people to climb thousands of stairs because their hearts and minds are guided by purpose and love and the […]
A few weeks ago I began offering my readers the opportunity to sign up for my new eNewsletter. I set up the process in such a way that when readers subscribe they receive a “thank you” email from me along with a question about what their biggest leadership challenge is. The responses have been eye-opening and […]
At last week’s Leadership Chat we celebrated our one-year anniversary. After some time spent reflecting on the past year, we began to look forward and asked the Chat participants to share their insights on the most critical leadership attributes of our time; attributes that will set leaders apart now and in the future. Here […]
Steve Woodruff and I couldn’t be happier to be welcoming our leadership colleague Mike Henry Sr. as this week’s Leadership Chat Guest Host. Mike is the Founder and fearless leader of the Lead Change Group, of which I am a member. The group’s mission is to “Encourage, Energize and Equip one another to apply character-based […]
We were all moved, and many of us shaken, by the loss of Steve Jobs last week. He inspired us with his vision, his passion for his work and his creative genius. We cheered him when he battled back from being fired at Apple. We so badly wanted him to win his ultimate battle with […]
As you might expect for a blog passionate about Visionary Leadership, I’ve heretofore tackled the business-altering difference between vision and mission, and the critical difference between vision and goals. But it was in the comments of last week’s post about why business vision matters more in this economy that I was asked an important question […]