You Feel Things Your Team Shouldn’t Know About

Anyone with an ounce of responsibility knows “Express Yourself” is poppycock. Leadership requires emotional control. In praise of emotional control: Some get apoplectic when you suggest they should control their emotions rather than… Continue reading

Praise, Ability, and Sucking the Life out of People

Praise is informed by the maturity and ability of those being praised. Shoe tying: Imagine little Mary successfully tying her shoe for the first time. Filled with pride, she parades her shoe tying… Continue reading

Aspirin for Asthma

The path to success is paved with systems. The alternative is band-aids and aspirins. Aspirin is great for minor headaches but doesn’t help asthma. In a few people, aspirin makes asthma worse. Aspirin… Continue reading

Are you Brave Enough to Be Dumb

The courage to ‘not know’ may be the greatest leadership courage of all. Mark Miller, the VP of High Performance Leadership at Chic-fil-A, told me that he would tell his younger self, “Stop… Continue reading

The Best Predictor of Leadership Strength

In his book, Claudio Fernandex-Aaroz* writes, “… the four key leadership assets common to all high-potential executives: Curiosity. Insight. Engagement. Determination.” “In fact, in analyzing exactly how leaders develop, we’ve found that curiosity… Continue reading

15 Ways to Know Your CEO is Worthy of Being Followed

Nothing useful ever happens when a disconnected high-and-mighty leader shows up for a visit. The memo: When high-and-mighty leaders show up, a memo goes out that reads something like, “The big cheese will… Continue reading