Palm Tree or Fir Tree? What’s Your Decision Tree?

One of the hardest lessons I’ve learned as a leader is embodied in The Big Six® principle, “Trust and Empower.” It wasn’t that I didn’t want to empower others; yet, I always seemed to drift back into being more controlling. And, throughout my career, I had to continuously step back and try to see myself … Read more

Finding Time

Having trouble finding time? In early 2016, a new weekends-off initiative was unveiled at J.P. Morgan called “Pencils Down.” The media was quick to highlight the move by the financial giant as a radical step: “The initiative…is unusual in a high-powered corner of Wall Street where 100-hour weeks are considered by some as a badge … Read more

The Impact of the First Impression: Information Age Leadership, Part 12

Have you ever gone into an organization where that first impression was not very powerful? How did it affect you? I think you’ll remember that it wasn’t a good feeling; and for many people on our teams, they start out in an organization with less than a wonderful first impression, and then we as leaders … Read more

The Power of Transparency: Information Age Leadership, Part 11

In today’s information age, there’s very little place to ‘hide,’ whether we want to or not. The era of ivory towers and back-room conversations is over. The element of confidentiality is getting more and more difficult to maintain. As such, it’s important to ensure our leadership behaviors are first-rate. We have to face the fact that … Read more

Building High-Performing Teams: Information Age Leadership, Part 7

This entry in my ongoing series of video blogs “Leadership in the Information Age,” is called “Building High-Performing Teams.” Talent is not the sole factor in a high-performing team. Your best people – to be the best team – need guidance. Amplify the success of your team by taking the time to set clear goals … Read more

What is Values-Based Leadership?

Values-based leadership is a commitment to doing the right thing by making decisions and choices based on values. 1. Leaders “walk the talk” with… Integrity Personal Will Mentoring Balanced Perspective Humility Self-Reflection Servant Leadership 2. Teams reflect the example of the leadership. 3. Values are in the DNA of the organization. Values-based leadership can only … Read more