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...

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...

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...

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...

Most founders of a successful family business sell their business to an outside third party. The 39 percent of family businesses passed to a second generation fail. Why don't these owners plan better for one of the most important events of their lives? If only it were...

You're so proud of your new vision statement. It sounds nice. Inspiring, even. But the vision is useless unless it can direct action. Your vision lays out a destination; your destination guides your strategy; and strategy chooses action. It's action that leads to...

When we're getting traction on something new, we typically have a week's worth of work to do, and an hour to do it. The International Labor Organization says Americans win the prize for the most overworked people in the world.1 We're productive, not because we work...