Dr. Louis Binstock once said, “Too often the shortcut, the line of least resistance, is responsible for evanescent and unsatisfactory success.” Allow me to translate: “A shortcut is the longest distance between two points.” We're all guilty of taking shortcuts now and again, whether it’s not signaling to change lanes or using a chair instead [...]
What were some of the key messages during your childhood years? When I was growing up my father wanted me to “be a man” first and “a gentleman” second. Not much guidance beyond those key points. “Being a man” was largely defined through his WWII United States Marine Corps lenses (a toned-down version of Gunnery [...]
You know that place: that point where you “stay the course” because turning back simply can’t be done (physically impossible), it’s expensive (prohibitively so), or dangerous. It could be an irreversible action (signing a contract) or a calculated point in a process (when the gas gauge on your airplane says you don't have quite enough [...]
Depending on the context and what we're going to explore, one of my favorite executive case studies has to do with Sir Ernest Shackleton and the voyage of the Endurance. It is a deep and rich mine of executive discovery opportunities. This year is the 100th anniversary of the conclusion of the Endurance adventure. The [...]
Everyone tells stories. Not everyone uses stories. Stories existed long before recorded history. Human life is narratively grounded; we have always had stories to interpret our experiences, construct our lives and shape our world. Stories are universal, adaptive, and foundational to the human experience. We think in narrative structures, remember facts in story form, and [...]
Years ago I was faced with a personal reality dilemma: an important life event was approaching. Expectations were high. Tensions were higher. There was something I was expected to do but couldn’t. The interpretation was that I wouldn’t. Afterwards, there was plenty of hurt and ill feelings to go around. Later, my friend, colleague and [...]
It’s February! The new year is up and running, so we had better be, as well! After listening to more than a few executives during 2015 and the beginning of this year, I’m convinced that one of the major challenges for 2016 – and beyond – will continue to be how executives deal with volatility, uncertainty, complexity, [...]
"Leadership involves leading." I read that somewhere and it's true enough, but leadership also involves implementing change. Sometimes (often?) change has a way of generating resistance in people. The best way to avoid resistance to change is to stop it before it starts. Really. You may not be able to eliminate all resistance, but what if [...]
As a young man coming of age in America in the 1960”s I did not understand Dr. King and therefore did not appreciate what he believed or his goals for a better America. Besides, I was busy with the interests and activities of a teen-aged male of the times (primarily "the fumes” – perfumes and [...]
"When one thing, the right thing, is set in motion, it can topple many things." It’s a simple concept: focus on what matters most in your personal and work life, because extraordinary results are directly determined by how narrow you can make your focus. Fact: A single domino is capable of knocking down a domino 50% [...]
