The managing director heads an organization with three vice presidents under him. For the last two years the company has been run this way and has been successful in turning around. With reorganization on the agenda, it is proposed that one of the vice presidents be...
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Is Belief Crucial To Success?
Do I have to believe in what I am doing in order to be successful at it? The power of belief is the stuff of legend. In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy must defeat the Wicked Witch of the West to build enough belief so the magic ruby slippers will send her home. But in real...
Why Diversity Is an Opportunity
How should we think about the importance of diversity, and how best to understand and value cultural differences? Diversity, the misunderstood child of the Age of Aquarius and Political Correctness, is an incredibly powerful tool for an organization. Diversity brings...
Minimizing the Risks of Leadership
A leader can be brought down by a single follower's actions. How can a leader reduce the risk? We dream great dreams and set goals so huge we need organizations to achieve them. Where people organize, leaders emerge. We want to be those leaders. Leaders become...
Titles Don't Make Leaders
All of the talk about "leadership" often ignores the fact that leadership is powerful at any and all levels—and that you do not need to be heading up an organization to be an effective leader. Some of the most effective business people that I know are in roles that...
The "Pull Leadership" Manifesto
Eighteen months after starting this column, business leadership still hasn't reached perfection. Haven't they been reading? Why is good leadership still so rare? Maybe it's because we use a whacked-out definition of leadership. "Leader" has become code for "rich guy...
The Leadership Attitude
Most people are not in official positions of leadership and yet we wish to do all we can to help the organization succeed. Bringing leadership skills to the table would benefit all. Since we aren't responsible for setting the "vision" for the company, where do we fit...
Tips for Mastering E-mail Overload
Being at or near the the top of your organization, everyone wants a piece of you. So they send you e-mail. It makes you feel important. Don't you love it? Really? Then, please take some of mine! Over 100 real e-mails come in each day. At three minutes apiece, it will...
The Keys to Building Trust
Which comes first: truth or transparency? Uh, oh. Is that politics in the air? I'm guessing you either want to trust someone else or you want them to trust you. Either way, transparency plays a powerful role. It's just part of the Trust Equation, though. So let's...
Defeating Overwhelm
My name is Stever Robbins, and I'm here to confess: I'm an overwhelm wimp. Give me more than three things to handle at once and pop, my head explodes. It's not just me—everyone seems to be suffering from daily overwhelm. At best, we flounder. At worst, we shut down...