I was recently in the home of friends who have a LARGE family. How large? Large enough to field almost any sports team from their ranks; large enough to be lovingly referred to as “the swarm”; large enough to make me – the youngest of two children – take notice of all the “activity”. Yet, [...]
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 retrospective of their lives in front of an audience, including appearances by colleagues, friends, and family. The show had its [...]
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 [...]
"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 [...]
Earlier this week I was reflecting on Dr. Martin Luther King's quote, “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity” and if it might apply to my world as an advisor to business owners and senior executives. It does. A few years ago, during a lunch with Marshall Goldsmith, he reminded [...]
Some years ago I was returning from Montreal to Atlanta after a consulting project. The airplane had a scheduled stop in Boston. Prior to our landing the pilot informed the passengers of "terrible" crosswinds at Boston's Logan Airport and that we could expect a "bumpy" landing. Understatement on both points. We survived. This, only after [...]
