Nelson Mandela had many teachers in his life, but the greatest of them all was prison. In the words of his biographer, Richard Stengel, “Prison taught him self-control, discipline, and focus, and it taught him how to be a full human being – the things he considered essential to leadership.” In other words, it was […]
Why decision making is so effective when it is located where the knowledge and expertise lie, rather than where the pay grade is appropriate.
I come from a lineage of hand-standers. My grandfather could still do a headstand when he was 93. My father was a Canadian national gymnast in the 1940s. He used to walk around on his hands when he was 50. I didn’t think there was anything particularly unusual about this until my friends came over. […]
Your first and most important responsibility as a leader is to create a safe environment where people can bring their whole self to their work. So how do you know if people feel safe? How do you know whether people fully trust you? How do you know if people are secretly looking for a job […]
To get your team inspired and engaged, to foster loyalty, and get the most out of people under your care, you need to work with them to meet four fundamental needs. People need to feel safe. They need to feel physically and psychologically safe. They need to know it’s safe to tell the truth, be […]
There’s a principle in boxing that timing beats speed and speed beats power. Whenever I’m up against my sparing partner and I feel less power, and I “try harder” to be more powerful it never ends well. It weakens my power, decreases my speed, and throws my timing way off. I’ll never outpower someone who […]
