Ron Heifetz writes that “attention is the currency of leadership.” And Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner say, “credibility is the currency of leadership.” I agree with my friends and mentors that leaders pay attention and they build up their credibility for when they’ll need to spend it down. But perhaps “courage” is the golden currency … Continued
One of the enormous joys of teaching at a university is that students appear with passion to learn, grow, and become. I can sense it in my classroom of 65 and in the mega-class that holds 700. But I especially feel it during office hours or my weekly lunches with students. They are wisdom seekers, … Continued
Today’s Read2Lead is different than nearly anything I’ve written. I REALLY want feedback and have one supposition and one question for you. I would like to write more about this (here but also in wider forums), and I am looking for you to help me think about this. Supposition: We all know and would hide … Continued
I have been exclusively coaching pairs, almost always the top two in their organizations. Typically I begin by “onboarding” them in the sense that the two will retreat with me for a couple days – after they have been working together for just a few months, or sometimes right from the get-go. I help them … Continued
I was asked by the Berkeley Women Leaders in Business at Berkeley Haas to kick off their evening Manbassadors session, convening a conversation with men and students of all genders next month. That came on the heels of presenting to an affinity group of people of color at a large corporation. I must be an … Continued
Last week I wrote about Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal. Gawande deals with what patients and doctors DON’T want to deal with . . . the inevitability of death. The denial of death often results in brutalizing treatments that make life more painful (and sometimes even shorter) than is necessary, and the denial means people make choices … Continued
791 words, approximately 3 minutes… I was with about a dozen college classmates (’80) on Sunday, and there was much talk about our parents in their 80s and 90s. Today’s blog is for the aging. That is, of course, all of us :-). But I mean it for those who are a good deal older … Continued
I had the wonderful opportunity to present to a cohort of leaders at a major corporation last week. The group of 75 came from around the country. They had been selected based on their upwards trajectory at the firm and their promise as leaders. Can you picture them, looking good and proud and enthused. I … Continued
“I am a really good teacher, and as so, I hold people’s attention.” That’s what I tend to think. But when I watch others teach, I realize, “OMG, it’s so easy in the audience – even without technology – to drift off!” And when I allow myself to sneak a peak at my phone, well … Continued
If you’ve been reading Read2Lead over the past few years you’ve tracked my decided shift into two territories you might call micro-leadership: leading yourself and leading in dyads. They are profoundly connected. And here are the two primary reasons why they are, and how they form a virtuous cycle: lead yourself by increasingly leading with and … Continued