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
Literally means literally. Okay? And Cliff had my back literally. Since he was 7 years old my son Jack has told me — not asked — that on his 16 birthday we would jump out of a plane together. My rather significant acrophobia told him in response: that would not be happening. He smiled, sure … Continued
On Sunday, Jennifer and I watched the last of our three children cross the high school stage. Being a parent is the quintessential form of hierachical leadership. No new employee comes to work, no student enters a classroom, as full of promise and as completely dependent as a baby enters a family. In a world that … Continued
Trust is the KILLER APP. A new client retained me last week. I told him I’d write up the agreement and pricing if he wanted it, but I didn’t need it. He could dump me at any time, and I’d fix to his liking any issue regarding payments. He was fine with that and said … Continued
Sometimes your team has looked at a problem that’s been festering, agreed to work on it, and you really hope things will get better. (Or maybe the problem’s been in your church, your marriage, or with your kids.) You hope things will improve. In my consulting an a-ha reveals itself, as clients say: “Wow. We … Continued
Special 12th Anniversary Guest Column JOEL GARFINKLE: Great Leaders Use Influence, Not Power Many leaders confuse influence with power. However, there is a vast difference between the two and the simple act of learning that difference and how to use it can move your career ahead in unexpected ways. To illustrate–a story. Jody was a senior VP at a … Continued
Friends, I recommend you watch today’s RFL, which I shared on Maria Shriver’s website last week.* I realize that many read RFL at work and may not be able to watch video, so below is a written piece which parallels the points in the video. As always I’d love your comments. It’s a three-headed … Continued
Testing Your Leadership Power Friends, I think I was wrong last week when I called Fr. Mark’s wonderfully crazy move an act of trust. If you missed last week’s RFL, I told how our pastor at St. Augustine’s in Oakland, California flipped the service – and all cautious rationality – on its head by randomly distributing … Continued
Friends, I’ve got three things for you today – an unbelievably crazy story, a lesson in leadership from Kouzes and Posner, and a question or two for you. Here’s the story: We go to church and Fr. Mark says that he has been to Kenya and he wants us to help. There’s an orphanage in … Continued
Trust Matters – Be Careful What They Trust You For Friends, One of my two partners asked me, “How did your program go?” She was inquiring about the year-long leadership course I had kicked off the day before with thirty school principals. Her tone was unusually serious. “Great,” I said. “They’re a super group, and the … Continued