“I think leadership is more important than strategy—and I say

What he means is that the autocratic Philip Purcell, the meglomaniac Jeffrey Eisner, and the “queen of keynote” Carly Fiona are on the out in terms of management style.  CEO’s like Terry Semel of Yahoo and Ed Zander of Motorola are “in,” according to James—whose search firm placed both CEO’s.  “Strategy is...

35 years of experience as a change agent for companies like Black &

; Decker, American Express, and UPS taught me the relevance of performing a rite of passage  initiative during my Securing Corporate Viability workshop.  Primitive societies appreciate the necessity of ritual when individuals or groups are  transforming from one state to another...

Winston Churchill had illustrious career as a journalist, author, statesman

and politician.  He held a variety of cabinet positions in the British government from 1906 to 1929.  When he was out of office for the ten years that followed, he had time to write and think deeply.  This sabbatical, in his own opinion, prepared him for his role as an allied...

building for future generationsToday’s posting is outside of the

LSI inspirational-leadership/process-discipline box.  After some trepidation, I decided to post it because it relates to values…the foundation of culture.  We will be looking at the national, not a  corporate level.  Rather than express my views directly, I’ve couched...

Entering a market when everybody else is cutting back doesn’t make

sense—on the surface.  But Andrew Wright, founder and CEO of Franklin Street Financial, saw opportunity where the competition could see only demise.  His Tampa based company grew in excess of 400% last year.  What Andrew did is less relevant then how he thinks.  The foundation...

The WSJ wrote that Ford, Disney, Wal-mart, Sony, and Honda, experienced

serious difficulty after their charismatic CEOs stepped down.  Steve Job’s exit, may cause a similar transfer malaise at Apple.   Fortune list companies get lots of attention when a head honcho exits, but loss of financial value can be much greater when small to midsize  ...

what you believe is where you are goingMuch of the attitudinal and behavioral

dysfunction on shop floors and in our offices is the consequence of conditioning.  Prior to the 60’s, societal discipline came from a code of ethics framed by the constitution—we were a nation of laws. I believe that our historical conformance to the “rule of the law...

The term to lead implies inspiring yourself and/or others to move towards

a new place or different way of being.  This is accomplished by people at all levels working at, and recognizing each other for, activities that align with the organization’s cultural values, statement of purpose, and vision.  Following are 10 steps that will help you  make...

Recently, UPI wrote, “eyes are riveted on Britain where American media

mogul, Rupert Murdoch is up to his neck in a phone-hacking and police bribery scandal.  On this side of the Atlantic, the question is whether he or any of his crew violated U.S. law.  U.S. law covers all employees of U.S. corporations—even executives managing employees based...

In a past life I interacted with Tom Peters, of In Search of Excellence

fame, during an Achieve promotion.  He and co author Bob Waterman coined a phrase that stuck.  MBWA (management by wandering around), labeled a desirable behavior for senior executives—to get out of the corner office and spontaneously interact with the folks.  Great idea...