Leadership Lessons

When we choose to invest our cash or time in education, labor, recreation, etc., we typically expect a return. But when we invest a particular type of time — thought time — we often neither expect nor get an ROI. Why?

In uncertain times, it’s useful to question assumptions, mitigate risk, and experiment to see how you can do more with less. That might sound like a tall order, but fortunately, those are all entrepreneurial practices that we can hone and apply in corporate settings.

Organizational culture is very hard to define, and even harder to get it right. Many leaders believe that culture is, above all else, the most important factor in driving innovation and organizational performance.

The best leaders are humble and check their egos at the door. How you treat everyone around you, every minute of every day is noticed.

Working parents can develop their leadership capacity by looking for and pursuing “four-way wins” — improving performance at work, home, in the community, and for themselves (mind, body, and spirit).

“The only thing “lucky” was my having the opportunity to learn from someone who continues to make their own luck.”

One of a leader’s most important traits is authenticity. But to truly be authentic requires a willingness to be vulnerable. Here’s how you can become your ideal version of a leader.

To succeed in an AI world you need to keep technology in its place – as servant not master – and emphasize your distinctively human qualities, such as intuitive judgment, creativity, and personal relationships.

Today we manage knowledge workers — and so the great leader will ask not tell. Knowledge workers are people who know more about what they are doing than their bosses do.

When both members of a dual-career couple are in senior leadership roles, the challenges are intense. How couples face those challenges has consequences for their teams and organizations as well as for themselves and families.

Most organizations and leaders say they want to empower people to contribute at their fullest capacity. But most leaders are never taught how to do that. We fall into the same traps…

Constant innovations in machine learning and robotics have reshaped work. A key lesson for leaders is to be aware of these changes and have clarity about the role they play in preparing employees for the future.

Not long ago, one of our global clients fell victim to a cyberattack. Forty-five thousand employees, worldwide, were suddenly disconnected from their email, calendars, spreadsheets — even their IP calling system went dark.

Many potential innovations die not because the idea is bad, but because innovators can’t win support to turn their ideas into reality. We call it the innovator’s paradox: the more groundbreaking your idea, the greater the risk, and the harder it is to win support.