Leadership Begins and Ends with Honesty

When you look back at past bosses you respected, bosses that were okay and bosses, how can I say it, needing a significant reboot, what made them different? I liked a boss that was honest with me. It seemed they knew when I messed up, it was unintentional. That doesn’t mean they overlooked my failures,…

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The Eight Attributes of a Transformational Leader

I have been very lucky to work for CEOs who understood the principle that leadership is not about doing business as usual but about transforming the organization. Transformation is what differentiates a capable leader from a great leader. Transformational leadership is not easy. It is fraught with risk and reward, angst and celebration, stress and…

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Leadership of Knowing When to Hand It Off

Leadership is about knowing when to step forward and knowing when to step away. Many times in my career, I have had a chance to do both. In my experience, stepping forward is much easier than stepping back. In every leadership role, there is a tipping point. Most leaders’ error is not seeing that tipping…

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Leadership, a Journey Without End

The common denominators of respected leaders are they never stop learning, and they never stop teaching. Leadership takes a significant commitment to the journey of others. It is fraught with setbacks, mistakes, tough decisions, and pride. The unwavering leadership commitment is to help others take risks, make mistakes, do things wrong, and from all that…

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How Passion Impacts your Presence

When people watch you day to day, they get a pretty good idea of how you feel about your life, your choices, and your job.  It doesn’t take long for someone to figure out if you LOVE what you are doing.  Recently I had distinct experiences where I could tell who loved what they were…

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Career Setback or “The Sky Is Falling”

If it hasn’t happened yet, it will. Suddenly, seemingly out of the blue, you get; pick one: Demoted, laid off, fired, passed over, or criticized for your execution of a project. What happens next will determine your future for a long, long time. When a career setback happens, it will most likely be very emotional.…

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Quiet, Is it Selfish or Scared?

When leading a team and a decision is needed, what happens? Is it silence or negotiation and debate? Let’s assume that you have assembled the right people for the team; you have the subject-matter experts to be able to make the right decisions. But just having the right experts at the table does not guarantee…

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Managing your Boss – Risky Business

One of the toughest jobs a leader can take on is leading horizontally and leading up. Leading without authority or the power of title is a critical skill that all great leaders have learned. Even a CEO has to, at times, lead the board of directors or the Chairperson needs to lead shareholders. To develop…

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