Leadership

The need to progress – to practice CANI, or Constant, Never-Ending Improvement – is an ever-present need in our lives, both personal and professional. Between social media and the fact of information literally at our fingertips, knowing what we should be reading, watching, researching or listening to can be confusing and often overwhelming. We often…

I just returned from a 16-day trip in East Africa, and there were two things that I loved most: first, meeting the people of Kenya and Tanzania and the opportunity to learn about different cultures; and second, the experience of observing and being with all the different animals and birds that live in the game…

This past weekend I dropped off a few items of clothing at the dry cleaner. As I was waiting for my receipt to print (it actually took less than 5 seconds), the cashier began apologizing profusely for the computer being so slow and for making me wait. I was taken aback by her response. At…

For years I have been influenced and living by Stephen Covey’s definition of effectiveness – getting what you want in a way that enables you to get what you want again, and again, and again. This definition suggests the importance of balancing time and energy in getting results and, even more importantly, in strengthening your…

Research shows us that most people underestimate what they can do in the long-term and overestimate what they can do in the short-term. As a result, many of us overfill our days with too many activities. I have  been studying this for a long time, and although I have made great strides in blocking time…

I recently overheard a small group of business leaders commiserating about a project that wasn’t proceeding as well as anticipated. They all seemed to be in a spirit of supporting one another, as we so often do when we trust colleagues with our frustrations and complaints. This can be healthy, of course, the opportunity to…

I just finished reading “The Moment of Lift” by Melinda Gates – what a wonderful book! She shares experiences from the work she is doing with the foundation she and her husband started in 2000. One such experience she writes about is the horrible misconception that the uber-rich can solve world problems by throwing money…

“I lead by example” is a popular response and catch phrase we often hear people say when asked to describe their leadership. My initial response is, of course you do – everyone does. People in your family and organization pay more attention to what you do than what you say. Leaders often talk about the…

There’s plenty of great information available on the value and power of empathy for leaders – so much, in fact, I hesitate to write on this topic for fear of not adding any value to the discussion. However, I would like to share a facet of empathy often not associated with leaders: the facet of…