Featured Posts
This is your life, and your story
This Is Your Life was an American reality documentary series broadcast on NBC radio, and then television, from 1948 to 1961. In the program, the host would surprise guests and then take them through a [...]
A shortcut isn’t and quick fixes aren’t and don’t
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 [...]
The future belongs to those who show up
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 [...]
Sometimes we must do what is required
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) [...]
Who are the new explorers?
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 [...]
You need a better story
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 [...]
How to overcome reality distortion and blindspots
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 [...]
There is still no antidote for uncertainty
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 [...]
Resistance or a third-order linear partial differential equation?
"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 [...]
Because it’s right
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 [...]
You are the first domino in the line
"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 [...]
Boxing gloves for Christmas
I was in the sixth grade and my brother was in the seventh. Dad, a Marine Corps veteran who saw plenty of action up close and personal during World War II on the beaches of [...]