Beware the False Dichotomy

I read an article today that talked about the leadership challenge of navigating the difference between “wartime” and “peacetime” leadership. It’s not a valid question because it’s based on a false dichotomy. The distinction between “wartime” and “peacetime” suggests a dualistic, either/or approach to leadership. The discussion centered on working with the intersection of these

#18 – Build Capability Before You Need It

This is #18 in the series, “50 Ideas Worth Fighting For.” Here’s another one that I like a lot. Since we know that nothing lasts forever, a healthy, necessary and realistic point of view for leaders to take is that whatever is working right now will not necessarily work next year. Rationally, we understand that.

The Consolation of Completion (Redux)

Some further thoughts on yesterday’s post, The Consolation of Completion: Many of our workplaces create an ethos of task completion and goal achievement at any cost. This habituation to the measurable allows us to feel good about ourselves at the end of the day but it fails to take into account the fact that most of

What About the Other 19?

Yesterday, I wrote about the Business Roundtable’s newly released Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation, a declaration signed by 181 of its 200 member CEOs. Nineteen corporations decided not to sign on to a statement that broadens the purpose of a corporation from “shareholder primacy” to a “fundamental commitment” to all of their stakeholders.

The Purpose of Business

Today, the Business Roundtable, a group of 200 CEO’s, announced that 181 of its members signed off on a new statement of the purpose of a corporation. This is a massive shift from the one-note philosophy of “shareholder primacy” to an approach that is reflective of a modern workforce – a modern society – that

The Old Story

Today I had to let go of an old story. I took my daughter to the DMV to test for her learner’s permit and received not just good or helpful service from the staff there but an exceptional level of attentiveness and care. You can imagine that this is not the story I told my

Hiding in Plain Sight

“What is obscure we will eventually see; what is obvious usually takes a little longer.” {Edward R. Murrow} Your team is hiding in plain sight. They are there, you can see them, they are working…all true. But they are hiding, just the same. What they are hiding is the depth of their creativity, their energy

How to Practice / How to Lead

I asked my piano teacher to help me create a practice plan. I have noticed that each day when I sit at the piano, after a few warm-up exercises, I find myself uncertain how to make the most of the time. I bounce around from this exercise to that song, from this chord pattern to

Toxic Must Go

A study showed that replacing a toxic worker with an average one can be twice as profitable as upgrading an average one to a star. {Adam Grant} If you are willing to sacrifice your culture because of the discomfort of replacing someone who performs at a high level but whose attitude and actions make things

Love is in the Air

Southwest Airlines wants me to doodle on my napkin. They invited me, along with 141 passengers, to express myself as I see fit. Because they “LUV” me, of course! Why this consistent, persistent, transparent emphasis on love? Why do they choose the heart as both the visual and visionary centerpiece of their corporate ethos? The