Recently on LinkedIn I posed three questions that resulted in some very interesting conversations. Here they are: An executive is only a leader if people choose to follow. How can you tell whether people are following or just doing their job? Everyone says leadership is important, but why does it make a difference? If an [...]
Thoughts on Executive Presence
February 8, 2012 By 2 Comments
I recently had a number of discussions on LinkedIn regarding Executive Presence. Here are some of the posts I started: An executive with presence commands respect instead of having to demand it. Executive presence is established, in part, by one’s dress and one’s carriage. What does your dress and carriage say about you? Successful executives [...]
Developing People ~ A Key to Eliciting Excellence
November 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment
There is tremendous opportunity and satisfaction as a leader in developing others. By effectively developing the people around us, we elicit excellence in a number of impactful and far-reaching ways. Developing others is an important function of effective leadership. The first benefit, obviously, is to the person being developed. When we help someone expand their [...]
Expecting Excellence – A Key to Effective Leadership
October 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The idea of expecting excellence isn’t new, nor is the premise that every leader should expect excellence from his or her team. But just like everything a leader says and does, it’s not so much a matter of “what” he or she does as much as it is about “how” they do what they do. [...]
Eliciting Excellence Leadership Summit
October 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Just wanted to let everyone know about the Eliciting Excellence Leadership Summit starting October 11. I’ve researched literally hundreds of experts from around the world to bring you fresh, practical ideas to help enhance your leadership effectiveness. Attendance to the Summit is FREE and you can listen to the programs online. By attending this virtual [...]
Leaders Can’t Be Trained
September 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Despite the hundreds of books, programs and websites devoted to leadership, the truth is that leaders can’t be trained. Leaders need to be developed. Hopefully this doesn’t seem like a simple matter of semantics, because it isn’t. Let me illustrate this distinction. Leadership is more about WHO you are than about what you do or [...]
Instilling Pride ~ A Key to Eliciting Excellence
August 14, 2010 By 3 Comments
Eliciting excellence in others is the essence of leadership, and one of the most effective means of eliciting excellence is to instill a sense of pride in those around us. Instilling pride has a myriad of benefits – quality of work and workmanship improves, creativity and innovation increases, collaboration is facilitated more easily, and people [...]
The Zen of Leadership
July 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment
There are many aspects to leadership that parallel the philosophies, concepts, and perspectives of Zen Buddhism. I don’t profess to have a great depth of knowledge regarding Zen Buddhism, but from the insights I do have, I can see the application with respect to effective leadership. The parallel exists within the concept of leading without [...]
Most Companies Get Leadership Wrong
June 2, 2010 By 4 Comments
Most companies take a good approach to developing leaders, but generally miss the point. There’s a lot of emphasis placed on good decision making, effective communication, and team building. And all those are important, but don’t address what matters most. When you get right down to it, the essence of leadership – the thing that [...]
Stop Managing Your Agents
December 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I’ve seen it repeated over and over again. Sales managers managing their agents. Or more accurately, sales managers “trying” to manage their agents. And it never works. This is especially fruitless with respect to teams of independent sales agents. You see… people can’t be “managed”. Things get managed. People get led. It’s not simply a [...]
