Article Summary: Many leaders agree too quickly to the many requests they receive. Such frequent assent can undermine key priorities. Good leaders learn to say no. Here’s how. +++ Many of us are bombarded with requests, opportunities, and decisions to make. Our subordinates and colleagues make compelling cases for things they want or need, and … Read more
Article Summary: Creating an execution-driven organization is essential for leaders. There are specific tasks leaders can do with strategy, people, and operations to align their organization to execute well. Good leaders embed excellent execution into the culture of their organization. +++ Execution entails carrying out a strategy, plan, directive, or course of action. Good leaders … Read more
Article Summary: Factions and office politics are common in organizations. Good leaders learn to bridge such factions and address the politics to help create unified and aligned organizations that excel. +++ Factions are small, dissenting groups within larger groups. Many factions take a contentious approach, fueled by their self-serving agenda and narrow and stubborn view … Read more
Article Summary: Good leaders make sure they don’t talk too much. They listen more and listen well. On the benefits of being a better listener and the best practices of listening, including how to build a culture of listening. +++ Many leaders talk too much. After all, they’re in charge, and people want to know … Read more
Article Summary: Dialogue is a rarely used but potentially transformative gathering and communication process that can help groups tap into their collective wisdom, realize new insights, and bridge divides. +++ Good leaders are effective communicators. One powerful but rarely used form of communication is dialogue. Dialogue is a special form of respectful conversation between people … Read more
Do you believe that most people are basically good, want to do the right thing, and have inherent talents? Good leaders have that mindset. They believe in the inherent capabilities of people. “I bring you the gift of these four words: I believe in you.” -Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and writer Or … Read more
Article Summary: A wealth of life and leadership wisdom is readily available in the great works of literature, film, theater, and oratory. We’re wise to plumb this fount of extraordinary knowledge. +++ We can learn much from the great works of history, including classic books, films, great poems, theater, and speeches. Thomas Jefferson created lists … Read more
Article Summary: Self-control can be learned and developed. Good leaders demonstrate self-control, mastering their impulses and emotions. +++ Self-control is our ability to manage our impulses, emotions, feelings, and desires to influence our behavior, especially in difficult situations. It’s a form of self-discipline that helps us address our weaknesses, avoid undesirable behavior, and pursue what’s … Read more
You’re in a meeting with your boss and colleagues discussing an important issue. You have a new insight to share on how to solve the issue, so you speak up. How would you feel if everybody ignores what you said and just moves on in the conversation? Or if the next person to speak says, … Read more
Article Summary: Is leadership an art or a science? That debate has gone on for decades. We believe it’s both—but more of an art, especially in challenging circumstances with risk and uncertainty. +++ People have long debated whether leadership is an art of science, or both, and whether it’s more of one than another. The … Read more
Summary: Judgment is an essential leadership quality. We outline why some leaders make bad judgments and how to develop good judgment. +++ Judgment is the ability to make good decisions. It’s a complex phenomenon requiring the ability to observe and understand things, draw upon knowledge and experience, form an opinion, and reach a decision. It … Read more
Article Summary: Here we profile Martin Luther King, Jr. as an example of someone who has incorporated spirituality into his leadership with great effect. (This is part of a series on spirituality and leadership.) +++ In recent articles, we covered “Spirituality and Leadership—Leading with Heart and Love” and “How to Bring Spirituality into Your Leadership.” … Read more
Article Summary: This article profiles several prominent modern leaders who have incorporated spirituality into their leadership, from JFK and Mother Teresa to Jane Goodall and Indra Nooyi. (This is part of a series on spirituality and leadership.) +++ In recent years, there’s been a growing interest in spirituality and leadership—and the related efforts around workplace … Read more
Article Summary: This article profiles several prominent historical leaders who have incorporated spirituality into their leadership, from George Washington to the Dalai Lama. (This is part of a series on spirituality and leadership.) +++ In recent decades, with big challenges like a pandemic, climate change, global financial strains, political division, wars, and concerns about the … Read more
Article Summary: Incorporating spirituality into our leadership can be powerful for people and organizations. Here’s how leaders can go about it. (Part two in a series on spirituality and leadership.) +++ Our previous article, “On Spirituality and Leadership—Leading with Heart and Love,” addressed the power and many benefits of spirituality and leadership. Bringing spirituality into … Read more
Article Summary: On the relationship between love, spirituality, and leadership—and leading with heart. The first in a three-part series on spirituality and leadership. + + + Many of the derailers that inhibit the effectiveness of leaders concern matters of the heart and spirit that have gone awry for these leaders. For example, our Leadership Derailers … Read more
Many executives today lead through fear to protect their power and influence. Or they’re closed off and distant from their team. Others lead with love, which entails connecting, caring, recognizing, appreciating, giving, forgiving, having fun, and more. Leading with love can be powerful and even transformative for organizations and the people in them. In recent … Read more
Article Summary: Love-based leadership can be transformative for people and organizations. Here’s how leaders can bring it about in their workplace. +++ Our previous article, “The Case for Love-Based Leadership,” addressed the transformational power and many benefits of love-based leadership. Leading with love entails connecting, caring, showing compassion, recognizing, appreciating, giving, forgiving, having fun, and … Read more
I was co-captain of the soccer team and we were flailing. Things weren’t all bad. We had good players—some great—and were doing well in league matches. But for some reason this season, several players were rebelling against the coach. Perhaps some of it was resentment about the intense focus on fitness, with brutal sprinting drills … Read more
Character should be the cornerstone of your leadership. “Great leadership is a product of great character.” -Abraham Lincoln The Future of Ethics Professor Corey Ciocchetti led a conference recently on “The Future of Ethics” at the University of Denver (DU). It was superb. His keynote address focused on “character-infused leadership.” The Daniels College of … Read more
In our last post, we wrote about Tiger Teams–temporary special action teams created and empowered to attack problems and exploit opportunities. Bob first witnessed the power of alignment and flow with the Pathfinder team at Monarch Marking Systems. In the early 1980s, retailers were rapidly adopting bar codes to scan at checkout. Rather than fight … Read more
The vast majority of organizations today have a traditional hierarchical structure.* They may be organized by function, division, geography, or some other variable, but they’re hierarchical. Given their long history, it’s no surprise that hierarchies can be useful. Organizations, especially large and complex ones, need structure to avoid chaos. “Hierarchy works well in a stable … Read more
Triple crown leaders—those seeking to build organizations that are excellent, ethical, and enduring—go beyond their natural leadership style, flexing between the hard edge of steel and the soft edge of velvet, depending on the situation and the people involved. (See our related article, “Steel and Velvet Leadership.”) They acknowledge their varying approaches referencing the organization’s … Read more
Triple crown leaders—those who aspire to build excellent, ethical, and enduring organizations—have learned to go beyond their natural leadership style, flexing between what we call “steel and velvet,” the hard and soft edges of leadership, depending on the situation and the people involved. Steel leadership demands excellent results, insists on ethical practices, and resists the … Read more
Article Summary: Many leaders don’t tailor their communication style to the situation. Effective leaders flex between steel and velvet (hard- and soft-edge) communication, depending on the situation and the people involved. +++ Of the five advanced leadership practices for building an organization that’s excellent, ethical, and enduring (from our book, Triple Crown Leadership), “steel and … Read more
Article Summary: Many people are poor at giving and receiving compliments. That’s a shame. High-performance teams are superb at this skill, and praise can make a big difference in motivation. +++ What’s Wrong with This Exchange? Sam: “Amy, you did a great job on that rush project last week.” Amy (looking away and down): … Read more
Article Summary: Reading body language is an underutilized skill for most of us. Body language and tone of voice are important communication conduits. +++ There’s a leadership capability we all have that is seriously underutilized—observing and reading body language. By reading what other people are communicating through their body language, we can significantly upgrade our … Read more
Article Summary: Knowing why you want to lead is essential. If your motive to lead is selfish, you’ll fail. Your ego is a leadership toxin. +++ Why do you want to lead? It’s important to know that—important to your future and to those you lead. Leading Is a Choice You may get thrust into … Read more
Article Summary: Most organizations aren’t aligned, reducing performance and causing frustration and dysfunction. Complete our Alignment Scorecard to gauge your organization’s alignment. +++ Most organizations aren’t aligned. As a result, workers are frustrated and the organization underperforms, sometimes badly. Signs of Misalignment When organizations aren’t aligned: People lack a clear and inspiring sense of … Read more
Article Summary: Many organizations struggle with accountability. We discovered six words you can use to fix your accountability problems. +++ Are you frustrated by accountability problems? Are people passing the buck, denying responsibility? Do meetings go on and on without coming to timely and definitive conclusions? We’ve been there and know how demoralizing it can … Read more
Article Summary: Many leaders struggle with effective communication. Here we address why storytelling is so powerful and how leaders can get better at it. +++ Bob recalls a defining moment in the turnaround of a large public company where he was the new CEO. During the senior staff meetings held every Saturday morning while the … Read more
Article Summary: Most organizations aren’t aligned. This reduces performance dramatically and often causes frustration and dysfunction. Here we show leaders how to align their organization or team. We include an Alignment Scorecard to assess your current levels of alignment. +++ In our experience, most organizations aren’t aligned. If they’re not aligned, they’re underperforming. And perhaps … Read more
Article Summary: Many leaders face a crisis that threatens their organization yet find themselves and their team woefully unprepared to handle it well. In this article, five-time CEO Bob Vanourek outlines ten practices for leading a crisis so that you can emerge even stronger than before. by Bob Vanourek “The signature of the truly great … Read more
Through many years of research and experience, we discovered many practices employed by good leaders. Some practices were well known. Others were surprises. We’ve now compiled an alphabetical guide of these practices: A-to-Z Guide to Good Leadership Practices. The full guide contains more than 200 entries, and it’s chock full of actionable tips for leading … Read more
Today, more than ever, we need leaders and organizations to commit to the overarching aim of being excellent, ethical, and enduring. Commit to the overarching aim of being excellent, ethical, and enduring. Triple Crown Leadership When we wrote our book, Triple Crown Leadership: Building Excellent, Ethical, and Enduring Organizations, we committed ourselves as a … Read more
You’re sitting in a meeting with your colleagues. They all agree on a course of action you sense is wrong. It’s not illegal, but it certainly doesn’t feel right. Do you speak up? You Will Be Tested No matter what field you work in, you will be tested with ethical challenges or dilemmas. You’ll … Read more
What do you do when one of your star performers, the best salesperson, or the brilliant technical expert is a jerk? Even worse, more than a jerk, your star performer is a dirtbag who lies, abuses others verbally, or worse? Or cheats to land a bonus? What do you do? We’ve seen this too many … Read more
Tom Cruise’s 2022 reprise of his 1986 hit movie, Top Gun, has been a box office smash. Top Gun: Maverick has Cruise again playing Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, a cocky, rule-breaking Navy test pilot. The elite naval aviation academy recruits Mitchell (Cruise) to train a group of younger top guns for a harrowing and almost-impossible aeronautical … Read more
In our book, Triple Crown Leadership, based on extensive research and interviews with leaders in 61 outstanding organizations in 11 countries, we identified five advanced leadership practices for building an organization or team that’s excellent, ethical, and enduring. One of these practices has most intrigued the leaders we work with. Here we elaborate on how … Read more
There I was, giving a guest lecture on leadership at a European business school, when I got an intriguing question from a student in the back of the room: “Excuse me, why are we talking about ethics? This is a course about leadership.” I came to realize what a gift this question was. His question … Read more
Most of us are adept at hiding our weaknesses. I know I am. I’m getting better though. I’ve learned that being vulnerable by admitting my weaknesses often turns the situation around to something good. People Already Know I discovered that many people already knew my weaknesses. It was obvious to them, even while I … Read more
Here’s the thing: we all want to be better leaders. But too often we focus on what to do as leaders while neglecting what not to do. That’s where leadership derailers come in—the things that take us off track and inhibit our leadership effectiveness. If we want to be good leaders, we must be aware of … Read more
