“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
A leader once said to me “Alan, I’m a leader in my company, but I don’t know what’s expected of me.” A closer look at that organization revealed a few things. It had succession gaps in key leadership positions. It had little support for new leaders and no model of leadership. It had inconsistent training » Read More
When Amy, my business partner at Braithwaite, and I decided to add elearning to our services two years ago, we had a business plan full of charts and projections. We’d both worked at Fortune 500 companies so we knew the drill. Former bosses would have been proud. While we were planning rich, the elearning business » Read More
As a leader I have encountered a diverse number of leaders each characterizing certain leadership styles. Some of these leaders have been effective, some not so effective, and some have been extraordinary. What type of leaders have I encountered? Here are a few that come to mind: “Gung-ho” leaders who lead zealously and are overly » Read More
Earlier this week I spoke with a friend that has an extraordinary gift, and an opportunity to use that gift at a much higher level. If she chooses to pursue that opportunity she has to push through whispers of doubt that her mind is already generating about all that she is not. She must push » Read More
Simon Cowell… His name conjures up visions of other great villains in history. He’s the Darth Vader of music shows, the Hannibal Lecter of aspiring singers. And I love it. “Why, are you as twisted as he is?” you may ask. Maybe, but the reason I love watching him is not the pain he inflicts, » Read More
Steven Covey once said, “Character is what we are; competence is what we can do. The reality is that character and competence drive everything else in the organization.” How is your team in your business or organization aligned for success? Do you have two key components that drive success? I have known many companies who » Read More
A recent Wall Street Journal article, McDonald’s Tackles Service Woes, describes McDonald’s continued economic and customer service challenges. “McDonalds Corp., battling back from recent earnings disappointments, is putting unusual emphasis on a long-time challenge: getting it’s far flung workforce to provide service with a smile.” Excerpts from a leadership webcast to franchise owners warned that “1:5 » Read More
Have you ever noticed how when someone tells us how they’ve been really busy with work, we automatically interpret this as being a bad thing? Certainly, no one associates having a lot of work to do with sunshine, love, happiness or any other positive experience. In many ways, this is a natural product of both » Read More
The movie 42 tells the story of how Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier to become the first African American man to play Major League Baseball. Amidst continuous racial discrimination and taunting from fans and players alike, he led his team to a National League pennant in his first season. Robinson earned Rookie of the » Read More
