“I see you ahead of me. You see me behind. Where are we going today?” Whether you subscribe to the notion of leaders having “followers” or not, let’s consider this: What do others trust your leadership, i.e. why do they literally follow your lead? Someone has to be first. Someone has to have a » Read More
Leadership isn’t a solo endeavor. If you go it alone: You will not have anyone to support you in challenging times. You will not have anyone to challenge you in troubling times. You will not have meaningful conversations. You will become stale in your ways. You will become moldy in your ideas. You will become » Read More
It has been a few months since I have retired as CEO/Superintendent of Schools and I am settling in to a life that is clearly different than the day-to-day demands, stresses, and responsibilities of leading a large organization. I have found that retiring after thirty-four years in public education has brought about feelings of unease, » Read More
Communication is key to execute a change project. Believing that your team will implement change without fully understanding the objectives or the reasons for the change will lead to failure. Here are 5 tips for communicating effectively and giving your change project the best chance of success. Build a story about what you believe, and » Read More
This is the third part of a series on the origins of the Lead Change Group based on one of the key books that inspired me to take action: Tribes by Seth Godin. For links to all the posts, check out this page. When I went into business on my own as a consultant in » Read More
The ultimatum game is often played in economic experiments in which two players interact to decide how to divide a sum of money that is given to them. The first player proposes how to divide the sum between the two players, and the second player can either accept or reject this proposal. If the second player rejects, » Read More
A “Had Been”… It started with dinner on a hot summer evening – great seafood I think…but I can’t remember what I ate, because the conversation was superb. I was dining with Bob, a successful businessman who built from the ground up and owns enterprises in several states. During our conversation, I discovered he had » Read More
Can you lead a team in a hurry? In today’s lightening-fast business world, effective leaders who achieve swift results through others have the advantage. What does it take? I’ve led and overseen lots of project teams. They don’t all succeed, and the ones that do have a few things in common. When we talk about » Read More
After the retirement of a respected and long serving senior leader, his bright-eyed replacement newly selected for the position visited the team. The arrival of the thirty-something female whose career had been fast paced and widely reported was met with eager anticipation. Not only was she completely different from the outgoing leader; she had a » Read More
As a leader I am sure you will either consciously or unconsciously know what you require of your followers, over and above their job role. But do you articulate those wants, or do you get frustrated because your followers don’t actually follow very well? If you are a follower, do you know what your leader » Read More
