Are You Confused by Leadership?
One of the most difficult and confusing things about leadership is the leader is not the point. Leadership is not about you. A leader may be the catalyst to change things for the better. A leader may be the key to unlocking others’ potential. A leader may get praised...
Lessons Learned from a Pandemic
After a recent speech, I was asked an interesting question by an audience member. What are the most important lessons organizations have learned during the pandemic and that we all should remember going forward? I think there are three: peripheral vision, adaptability...
Accountability: Part Four
Over the last several weeks we’ve talked about why consistent high-performance requires accountability, and how the quality of planning and decision-making processes can support accountability. “Go Slow to Go Fast” is a useful reminder that we will always pay later...
Accountability: Part Three
When accountability fails, there are some standard reasons given. Last week we talked about how robust planning upfront helps a team get beyond the “circumstances have changed” reason. If people are using the “I didn’t understand,” “I didn’t agree,” “We have too much...
Accountability: Part Two
Last week we talked about why confronting and correcting a failure in accountability is so critical. Without accountability, there is no high performance, there is no positive change, there is no growth in a team’s capabilities. We also examined a number of reasons...
Accountability: Part One
The dictionary tells us that accountability is equivalent to responsibility. Being accountable means doing what you say you are going to do. If you can’t get it done, you own up to it and make it right. Interestingly, the dictionary also provides and example of the...
Speech on Voting Rights
On July 29, 2021, Carly Fiorina spoke on Capitol Hill to urge members of Congress to pass legislation that would ensure there are basic standards that must be upheld in any election. And that Congress should require federal approval of any changes in election laws...
Newsletter: It’s Not All About You
A couple of years ago I was a keynote speaker at a large gathering commemorating an important event. I had prepared carefully for it. I was eager to communicate with this August audience and looked forward to delivering my remarks. The audience had been listening for...
Newsletter: Effective Communications
One of my most valuable lessons in communications came from a graduate course in philosophy. Each week we had to read the major writing of a medieval philosopher. These were weighty tomes, sometimes running to a thousand or more pages. And each week we had to write a...
Newsletter: Steak, Not Sizzle
"For the first time in human history, any person can get ahold of almost any piece of information they want at a time and place of their choosing. The world is becoming much more Digital, Mobile, Virtual, Personal. DMVP. Everything physical and analog is becoming...
Newsletter: People Watch the Walk
“Culture” is often a loaded term and means many different things to different people in different contexts. In an organizational or team context, “culture” is often diminished as something for the HR team to worry about. Or perhaps it’s viewed as very important, as in...
Newsletter: Pitfall #4
If you’ve read the last three newsletters, you have learned about three critical pitfalls that prevent people and organizations from getting it done. To avoid the last pitfall, you will have to get real about all that you are trying to get done. If you’ve chosen your...