He never talked about war. He talked about the people — the “young men” as he called them, though he was barely 21 years old himself. As a kid, he skippered a Naval LST in the Pacific at the height of that war to end all wars. That’s where and how he grew up. Navigating… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Leadership
Subscribe to Leadership RSS FeedAuthentic Leadership Comes With Extraordinary Listening Skills
Posted in Art of Listening, Business Development, Leadership, MarketingSo often we act as though leadership is wrapped up in a title, charisma, or eloquent messaging. Yet, many times the individuals I most want to hear from — those whose thoughts and opinions influence me the most — are doing less talking than almost everyone around them. The best leaders I know seem to… Continue Reading
The Best of Us
Posted in LeadershipDays like yesterday — April 15 — make it easy to become preoccupied with the worst. Yesterday. December 14, 2012. September 11, 2001. April 19, 1995. The worst moments. Unthinkable realities. Inhumanity. But in the midst of the April 15 bombing in Boston, we bore witness to poignant examples of the best of us. The first… Continue Reading
Why Storytelling Resonates
Posted in Communication, LeadershipSome impressions are indelible. The golden sun, slowly dropping from view on a perfect horizon; the smell (and taste) of mom’s fresh-baked cherry cobbler; the eyes of a child in an early instance of wonder. For most of us, a few experiences are deeply etched into the memory banks. They conjure vivid memories that repeatedly… Continue Reading
3 Keys To Thriving In A Changing Marketplace
Posted in Art of Listening, Business Development, Leadership, MarketingLong ago, before digital invaded advertising, marketing and media, the basics of the print industry hadn’t seen significant change for decades. Then someone figured out ones and zeroes. And things began to shift rapidly. Seemingly overnight, what had once been the purview of shops able to invest in big machines and the real estate to… Continue Reading
What Sunday News Shows Would Sound Like If Mom Were A Producer
Posted in Art of Listening, Communication, LeadershipSunday’s talk shows prompted a ridiculous line of thinking. I wonder what might happen if mom’s advice were to take hold. You see, my mother — the only person I’ve known personally that might approach sainthood status –repeatedly advised, “if you don’t have something nice to say, better to say nothing at all.” I’ll wager… Continue Reading
When The Intent Is To Communicate, Market and Lead, Listen With The Eyes
Posted in Art of Listening, Business Development, Leadership, MarketingYou don’t have to look long to find plenty of talk about the importance of listening. (We’ve done our share here on this blog, and here, in a guest post for my friend Cordell Parvin.) CMOs, consultants and marketing gurus regularly weigh in on listening’s critical role. These discussions invariably (and understandably) focus on the… Continue Reading
5 CMOs Identify The Characteristics of Successful Teams
Posted in Business Development, Communication, Leadership, Marketing, Strategic PlanningStrategy, no matter how insightful and comprehensive, does not insure execution. Action plans, no matter how detailed or innovative, are no guarantee goals will be realized. And every leader that has managed through crisis knows benchmarks are not the be-all-end-all measure of resources. The market is shaped by teams that move boundaries and redefine arithmetic…. Continue Reading
The Gift Of A Clean Slate
Posted in Art of Listening, Business Development, Leadership, Strategic PlanningThe season may be past; but there is still time to bestow a gift that can bring positive change in the coming days, weeks and throughout 2013. The gift? A clean slate. A fresh start. A new beginning. Give it to everyone with whom you interact — family, colleagues, team members, clients and customers. And… Continue Reading
In Search of Everyday Peace Makers: A Holiday Wish
Posted in Art of Listening, Communication, LeadershipIt is the aspiration shared on countless seasonal greetings — peace on earth. Music and verse speak of it wistfully. When words fail, as in the midst of unthinkable loss in Newtown, Connecticut, it is our paramount hope for all touched by tragedy. But where are the peace makers? Not the heads of state, or… Continue Reading
Life Is More Than Black & White, “Red” or “Blue”: A Thanksgiving Perspective
Posted in Art of Listening, Communication, LeadershipThere are a few things that are clearly either black or white. But very few. Much of daily life – from personal relationship to professional decision – is defined based on perspective. Thursday many of us will observe the holiday tradition that combines turkey and the National Football League. We’ll likely witness the blurry line… Continue Reading
The Message That Connects
Posted in Branding, Business Development, Communication, Leadership, Marketing, Social MediaMarshall McLuhan — a godfather of 20th-century communication theory — characterized one of the challenges inherent in connecting when he coined the phrase “the medium is the message.” Seth Godin hit on it from a different angle in his timely post today, Get Over Yourself. Given the timing — the 1960’s, in North America —… Continue Reading
Measuring What Matters
Posted in Business Development, Communication, Leadership, Marketing, Social MediaWe measure everything. With a keen eye on established benchmarks, we consider every implication of a new born’s length and weight, age of the first step, and rate of growth (raise your hand if you remember marks on the wall noting dates and height). Speed. Efficiency. Projected earnings. Wins and losses. We measure it all —… Continue Reading
The ABC’s Of Business Development
Posted in Art of Listening, Business Development, Leadership, MarketingBusiness development is not very complicated. Granted, it requires many to stray from a comfort zone, and the combination of science and art is often disconcerting; but the formula for success is not difficult to understand. If you know of a business development effort that isn’t producing, chances are someone is making it more complicated… Continue Reading
Three Keys To Communication That Inspires Action
Posted in Communication, Leadership, Marketing, Social MediaThe alarm – a digitized-siren-sound of some sort – was wailing. No one able to hear could have missed the intended warning. Yet no one in the 40-story high-rise was concerned. There was no panic. No rush to the nearest exit. It was mid-morning, mid-week; and the persistent alarm notwithstanding, it was business as usual… Continue Reading
Vision: A 9/11 Reflection
Posted in LeadershipVision is an amazing thing. Add other senses and emotions to what the human eye is able to behold, and suddenly an impression is burned into the intangible canvas of our consciousness. Today, in his post titled Standing Tall, John Nosta gives beautiful voice to what many of us feel, as he shares perspectives forever… Continue Reading
Real Leaders Instigate Dialogue
Posted in LeadershipSome accomplish it with the pen (“mightier than the sword…”). Some with poetic eloquence. Others, by way of a simple invitation. Some by the sheer force of their example. Whatever the methodology, real leaders encourage conversations around core ideas, agendas and solutions. A loud voice can distract for a season. Given the resources, would-be leaders can… Continue Reading
When A Winning Attitude Undermines Victory
Posted in Branding, Business Development, LeadershipNo one likes to lose. Whether a single game, or a season’s campaign…a friendly wager, or betting the farm…a skirmish, or a war…even a conversation or a debate — winning has become a definitive measure of success. We want to win. A winning attitude is an asset to be prized in colleagues, and cultivated in… Continue Reading
Prescription For A Productive Dialogue
Posted in Art of Listening, Communication, LeadershipIn the wake of another Sunday morning buffet of current affairs television programming, and on the eve of Independence Day celebration in the U.S., two thoughts occurred. First — one who subjects himself to variations of the same tired rhetoric and political posturing week-after-week must have masochistic tendencies. Second (and more productive), Sunday’s soundbite assessments… Continue Reading
The DNA Of Strategic Business Development
Posted in Art of Listening, Business Development, Leadership, Marketing, Strategic PlanningLabeling something as Strategic does not make it so. The presence of a plan, no matter the number of pages or accompanying detail, should not be mistaken for the existence of a strategy. Desk drawers are littered with detailed business development and marketing plans that are decidedly not strategic. (I know this from personal experience.) And even… Continue Reading
Mind Set, Skill Set And The Pursuit of Progress
Posted in Business Development, Communication, Leadership, Strategic PlanningIt is much easier to be a critic than a creator; easier to respond and react than to innovate and initiate; easier to correct and follow than to map and lead. Opinions flow freely from the comfort of the cheap seats, where no investment in the possibilities of the future is required. Charting new territory… Continue Reading
Shortcuts, Quick Fixes, And Strategic Fodder From The Dewey Demise
Posted in Leadership, Strategic PlanningStepping down from anything that might resemble a high-horse, we should stipulate that succeeding at enterprise is not a piece-of-cake. There are far more ways to false-start, stumble and falter than one could enumerate — and many of us have first-hand experience with at least a few. That said — and notwithstanding the lessons to… Continue Reading
The Critical Characteristics of Leadership
Posted in LeadershipEvery single real leader I know would be shaping opinion, facilitating change and moving the proverbial ball regardless of the job description, title on the business card or position in the org chart. Leaders can’t help it. They don’t simply change the rooms they walk into. They change them for the better. They have much… Continue Reading
Big Hairy Audacious Goals Versus The Devils You Know
Posted in Leadership, Strategic PlanningBill Taylor’s HBR Blog post today — “Don’t Let What You Know Limit What You Imagine” — strikes at the heart of a strategic planning challenge for professional service organizations in today’s marketplace. Begin with bright business minds, add expertise and deep experience, blend with volatility, unpredictability and a touch of fear, and you have… Continue Reading