Tag Archives: inspiring

April 01

When It Comes To Inspiration, “Cui Bono?”

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In the midst of a recent conversation with a mentor, the leadership style of a famous leader was discussed. In the process of considering a historical anecdote involving this leader, it became apparent that something I may have taken for granted to date was in fact a very clear metaphysical process that I had been […]

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January 30

Can You Email Inspiration?

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The Jersey is already on the record as sort of a hater.  The irony of hating on email through the medium of a social media invention is assuredly amusing to you loyal fans and fellow leadership junkies, so let’s get to it, shall we? Way back in 2013, there was a discussion here about the negatives […]

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August 05

Those That Do, Teach

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George Bernard Shaw is generally credited with the century-old maxim that suggests teachers are generally failures at the things they are trying to impart unto others. While that may not be the most insightful translation ( I would give Shaw a bit more credit for the point he was trying to make), the saying is […]

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July 13

If Every Day Was A New Day

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This month I have had the opportunity to spend some quality time at the largest military maritime exercise in the world.  If there is anything consistent about coordinating over 50 ships from 22 countries, it is how important the ability to communicate becomes in such an operating environment. My piece of the show involves working in […]

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June 24

What Experts Say About Lessons Learned

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The other day I was asked about what lessons I have learned over the past 25 years that could be distilled into a hindsight approach.  I thought that was a great question and so, as with all great questions, I asked the Internet.  Rather than ask for the nearest location of a great teriyaki takeout […]

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June 20

Bloom Where You Are Planted

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The newly hired coach of the New York Knicks, Derek Fisher, gave a press conference a week ago in which the many shortcomings and challenges with his new team was the topic of conversation. Fisher’s response was an example of leadership mindset at it’s finest. “How do you make the most of what you have? That’s the message I’ll send […]

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June 08

Fellowship

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In past posts on this blog, I have spoken about the concept of “followership“. The general drift of that message was that there was good and bad “followership” and that good leaders in general were equally adept at being led.  There are some rules to being led, and being the best you can be at it. […]

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May 06

Appreciation

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This being the occasion of Public Service Appreciation Week, it seems appropriate to take a moment and consider the act of appreciation, from the perspective of a leader. The power of appreciation is an awesome thing to behold.  As young children, we were taught that “please” and “thank you” were required elements of just about […]

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April 28

First Rule of Bossing – Do No Harm

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Stanford professor Robert Sutton is well known for his theories on management and business, with over a dozen books to his credit.  His most popular work is about being civil in the workplace, which at its core is about the Golden Rule. It is unfortunate that in any conversation about workplace jerks, the buck stops pretty squarely […]

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April 10

Attitude is Every Day

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For those of you who just took a chewing from the boss, or experienced a spectacular fail, or got crushed under a huge Rock Of Unrealistically High Expectations, coming in to work the next day (or the next minute, depending on the circumstances) can be an ordeal.  Sometimes, it’s even worse if you have had […]

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February 14

Captain Miller’s Rule – Gripes Go Up

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War movies are sort of a cliche for finding leadership material.  For one, they are not everyone’s favorite genre’, so a respectable portion of aspirant leaders may not read any farther when someone starts quoting their favorite scenes. On the other hand, the topic of leadership is something endemic to the military, especially due to the […]

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February 10

The Vision Thing – Motivating Others

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There is an oft-quoted parable used to illustrate how vision translates down to the team. It centers around three stonemasons working at a job site who are asked what they are doing by a visitor. The first one, sweat pouring from his brow, grumpily replies that he is “cutting stone.” The second stonemason sighs, and says […]

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February 07

How Much Are Style Points Worth?

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Before you spit your morning beverage of choice out, have confidence that the answer to the title of this blog will be to your liking. I was struck by a recent post in Leadership Freak that discussed more than a few ways to be IR-relevant.  It also recalled for me an item in Forbes from a […]

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January 13

What Kind Of Follower Are You?

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This blog is about the art of leadership, and as I have said on several  occasions, is aimed at the leader, the aspiring leader, and those who are led.  Many of the topics I have covered thus far focus in on the perspective of those  first two groups. The last group, the led, are known by another […]

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November 09

What’s Your Story?

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It is a human experience to tell stories to communicate between each other.  Psychologists and neurologists see this as the quintessential human behavior.  From Homer’s Iliad to the most recent popular fiction, humans using the power of story is a staple of nearly every culture and community that has graced the earth since recorded time.  […]

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October 17

Your Own Kobayashi Maru – Leadership in a Crisis

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For the Trekkie‘s amongst you, the K-Maru scenario has been fodder for uncountable arguments. In the fictional Star Trek universe, the Maru is a training simulation every Star Fleet cadet is put through.  In essence, the decisions available to the student are all “no-win” and the entire exercise is about how you come to terms with […]

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October 08

Defining the…Eeyore

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The collection of characters that makes up A.A. Milne’s children’s classic “Winnie the Pooh” are a cross-section of personality types that when summed, create a rich tapestry for children to feel.  The boundless energy of Tigger, the hesitancy of Pooh, the confidence of Christopher Robin, the steadfast loyalty of Piglet – all give the child reader […]

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September 29

The Learning Leader

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The other day, I had the opportunity to briefly chat with a colleague whom I had managed for several years, and who themself was now in a leadership position.  The general conversation was about how they had identified some key sources of leadership guidance early on and continually referred to it whenever a particular problem or issue […]

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The Truth, and Other Things

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There are two possibilities about your team that you can contemplate from your position of leader. The first possibility is that they will follow you because they want to. Or, they will follow you because they have to. Despite the apparent differences that each of these realities suggest, there is one important similarity. You have […]

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Does Management Even Matter? – Leading Your Organization

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A recent piece in Slate caught my attention and seems ripe for discussion and comment. An article by Fisman and Sullivan praised the New York Passport Agency as a model of efficiency, and says the operation is in the “vanguard of workplace effectiveness”. The part that seemed out of place was that they were praising a government agency, where […]

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