Sum etiamtum – I am still learning. That’s my theme for this New Year. As I think about the new year I can’t help but wonder a bit about what’s in store for us and marvel at how technology has accelerated (and will continue to accelerate) the pace of change with which we must contend. I don’t spend a lot …
A colleague from the Midwest works for a very successful private company in a leadership role (no, NOT my Chicago based son for those of you who know me). In a recent conversation, things got around to how disappointed he is in how the company owner frequently demotivates people with his continued use of the pronoun “I.” And he isn’t using …
The facilitator of a group to which I belong asked a question, “What incident or event from your past shapes you as the leader you are today?” Of course the first thing that passed through my mind was “how and where am I being a leader today?” We all have many roles in life and not all roles are leadership …
as we are, not the way it is! There are many variations on the point. Sometimes we say that our words create reality — or that who we “are being” speaks louder than words — or that what goes around comes around — or that we create karma and that directs our life (and some believe the next life.) However you say it, …
Gladwell has once again hit a home run. This book is a compendium of articles, some written for the New Yorker Magazine, available on Gladwell’s web site, and I believe it will be another bestselling book. Gladwell’s unique way of viewing and interpreting data reveals truths about our society which tend to “blow away” the myths we tell ourselves. He …
I have been speaking in public to large and small audiences for many years now. And I’ve been fortunate to have employers who, recognizing the importance of polished speaking and presenting skills, have invested in many of their key executives. Once I founded my own company, I spent several years with the National Speaker’s Association. Despite all that experience and …
In observing colleagues, friends and family, I have come to the conclusion that the most “efficient” explanation for my own and their reaction to life’s challenges is that there is a fundamental fear to which we are responding. Speaking for myself, I find that identifying that fear is exceedingly difficult, and as Jeffers points out in her long selling book, …
The world of executive coaching has changed a great deal since my early years in the corporate world. Today, companies turn to an executive coach as a way to invest in the future of a promising executive. Individuals hire executive coaches to help prepare themselves for leadership positions in their chosen profession or to further improve an already promising and …
Once again my colleagues made a fantastic recommendation for a year end reading gift for my CEO group. After reading Mortenson’s book, I felt as though I must be the only person in the world not aware of the work he has been doing. How did I miss it? Failing to make it to the top of K2, getting lost …
I picked up this small book with trepidation since the sub-title is “How My Forthcoming Death Transformed My Life.” It’s not that I fear death or want to ignore the inevitable; it is that I did not want this to be a book that trivialized the ultimate rite of passage with platitudes and superstition. I need not have worried – …