A Time to be Courageous
One of my clients described himself as “pretty risk averse” when we met a few years ago. Fast-forward to today, and this executive and...
The Art of Balancing Analysis and Intuition
Imagine being a CEO and presenting your Board with a proposal for a major acquisition that could double the size of your company – or...
Manage Your Projections
I felt myself holding my breath as my client described a particularly challenging board member. He told me how a director had been...
My Brief Encounter with Muhammad Ali
It was a cold night at the Louisville airport, two years after the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. I was standing in a taxi line-up waiting for a...
Picking Out the Brown Smarties
When I was growing up at GE in the early 1990s, Jack Welch used to write thought-provoking letters to shareholders that were often quoted...
Does Culture Eat Strategy?
The quote that “culture eats strategy for breakfast” is most often attributed to Peter Drucker; although, after doing a little research,...
Want Balance? Forget About Being a CEO
When I attended business school in the 1980s, the idea of work-life balance was just beginning to be debated. Our convocation speaker, a...
Why we Hate Change
How can you tell the difference between truly great leaders and wannabees? Just look at their track record of driving real and lasting...
Healthy Narcissism
At a first meeting with a new client my impression was of a woman at the top of her game – a fast moving executive who had sailed past...
Employee Engagement in a Changing Organization
First the good news – Boards, CEOs and executive teams are taking employee engagement more seriously than ever. This can only be a good...
