Leadership Lessons From A Beloved Mayor
Boston is one of my favorite cities. I get there at least once a year for work or to visit friends. For my daughter’s thirteenth birthday, we flew to Boston for a rare opportunity to see a Red Sox game and a Bruin’s game in the same day. The Fenway Park experience will be embedded […]
Engagement Flows From Personal Values
Over the years, my colleagues and I have spent considerable energy and time helping leaders create an aligned culture by clarifying their organizational values. We lead off-site retreats, creating corporate value statements and developing processes for getting those values into the hearts of their employees. But this is not what inspires commitment and engagement. It’s […]
Authentic Leadership, Character, and Structural Integrity
Some of the best conversations I have had have come after a presentation when sitting in a lounge debriefing and philosophizing with participants. Such was the case this past week, in a conversation with a project engineer, Steve Kay, who works for the City of Grande Prairie. I’ve always had great respect for engineers and […]
Authentic Leadership: The World Needs A Skeptic, Not A Cynic
What’s the difference between a skeptic and a cynic? Here’s my take: A skeptic (according to Encarta® World English Dictionary) is “somebody who questions the validity or truth of things that most people accept.” Skeptics challenge the status quo. Skeptics are necessary for the growth and development of an organization, a culture, and a community. […]
Resolving Conflict – The Authentic Way
We’ve all heard that differences are necessary in any relationship, team, or organization. After all, if we were all the same we wouldn’t have conflict. And without conflict you don’t learn, grow, or create anything new. The challenge is how to make conflict productive. How do you use conflict to discover, expand, and create rather […]
Effective Leadership: Goals, Achievements, And Success Are Not Enough
Goals and achievements are not enough for a fulfilling life. I’m a goal-oriented person, and I love the exhilaration of achievement that comes from clear intentions and disciplined activity. I learned the value of goal setting early in my life as a track athlete, student, musician, and later as an entrepreneur. But I need to […]
5 Steps to Creative Leadership
Creative leadership is a mindset and a process you need to implement on a daily basis. Creative leadership can help stop you from slipping into a mundane routine and it can challenge you and your organization to explore exciting possibilities. Just like business magnate Donald Trump, finding your creative edge can lead to the best […]
Organizational Culture: How To Turn Value Statements In Values
We’ve all seen the nice laminated value statements that hang on office walls. Many of these beautiful calligraphed statements are developed by a well-meaning executive team at an offsite retreat – usually somewhere in the mountains where they can be close to divine inspiration. They bring back the inspired document as if it were the […]
Transforming Sorrow Into Service: Effective Leadership In Action
“Only when we learn to be humble about ourselves, can we begin to respect others.” – Lindsay Leigh Kimmett Lindsay Leigh Kimmett was an athlete, a leader, and a medical student with enormous potential to do great things in the world. But her life ended when, as a seat-belted passenger, she was tragically killed in […]
The Roots Of Self Leadership: Living A Good Life
Last week my wife, Val and I took time to transplant trees and re-pot houseplants. It’s been good for me to slow down and spend some time working with soil, getting my hands dirty and connecting to the land, reminding me of the value farmers bring to our culture. I’ve been learning from Val, our […]
