International Business News Blogs - Leadership Journal http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/rss/sections/leadership-journal.rss All articles are copyrighted by IBTimes.com 120 30 http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/rss/sections/leadership-journal.rss http://www.ibtimes.com/images/top_logo_ibt2_3.gif In a recent blog post I wrote: An economic world turned upside down makes it easier to take a fresh look. This can open the door to making changes that will benefit you and the most important people in your life, now and in the long run....The crisis, in other words, can make it easier to experiment with new mental models or attitudes about your career and how it fits with your life's purpose, and it can serve as a catalyst for your own reinvention, as a leader in all parts of your life. A usef... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081223/3-steps-toward-beingbetter-leader-in-2009.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/10763/20081223/3-steps-toward-beingbetter-leader-in-2009.htm Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:21:02 EST The Hurt Locker is a gripping movie — enthusiastically and universally acclaimed — about an elite team of American soldiers in Iraq "who have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world: disarming bombs in the heat of combat." Time after time we watch the team's new leader, Staff Sergeant William James, arrive at a bomb site and, with gut-wrenching intensity and focus, attempt to untangle and defuse an I.E.D. (improvised explosive device). Totally consumed by his mission, he exposes his two ... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090909/why-the-hurt-locker-hurts.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/9756/20090909/why-the-hurt-locker-hurts.htm Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:56:19 EDT Leaders gain trust and teach people what's important to them by telling stories. But these days there's so much to attend to — now! — coming at us so fast. You might be tempted to let slide your soft skills, like how to tell a useful story. Just get to the point and move on to the next thing on the list. No time for fluff. Even President Obama, who masterfully demonstrated his storytelling skills in the campaign, was recently described as shuffling from one crucial issue to the next, like... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090804/howtwo-minute-story-helps-you-lead.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/8164/20090804/howtwo-minute-story-helps-you-lead.htm Tue, 04 Aug 2009 18:42:46 EDT What kind of leadership do we need now? This was the question I asked last week at the beginning of a day-long workshop attended by a group of senior-level women at a major technology firm headquartered on the west coast of the US. And I've been asking this question of thousands of other business professionals over the last year or so in similar settings around the country. Just a few days ago, in Puerto Rico, I asked it again at a gathering of business executives and, again I heard pretty muc... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090615/becomemore-creative-leader-think-small.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/6022/20090615/becomemore-creative-leader-think-small.htm Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:54:39 EDT I just returned from Toronto where I spent some time in the hands of an amazing corps of health care professionals at Medcan, North America's biggest preventive health clinic. I heard more than one story of how Medcan's preventive assessments saved lives — and enormous medical cost. Medcan's CEO, Shaun Francis, is an alumnus of my Total Leadership course at the Wharton School, which he took in 2003, and he kindly invited me to try the service his firm provides. I was blown away. In less than... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090525/the-power-of-preventive-assessment.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/5058/20090525/the-power-of-preventive-assessment.htm Mon, 25 May 2009 10:28:23 EDT A distinguished woman rose to speak in the front of a room of 40 fellow employees during a Total Leadership workshop I was conducting earlier this week at a large pharmaceutical company's headquarters. "Joyous laughter — this is the sound I hear throughout the home I have built and now maintain for mentally ill women in Puerto Rico. They are surrounded by people who love and care for them. They are enjoying life." Juana, let's call her, was telling the brief (one-minute) story of her person... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090508/the-most-compelling-leadership-vision.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/4491/20090508/the-most-compelling-leadership-vision.htm Fri, 08 May 2009 17:30:57 EDT Steve Lopez's magnificent story (a book and now a movie) about his friendship with Nathaniel Ayers — the homeless cellist stricken with schizophrenia — provides powerful lessons about leading change that instruct and inspire. As I read the story, I found myself coming back to three themes that resonated with my own teaching on creating sustainable change in all aspects of life: 1. Reduce fear to enable change. Imagine being so afraid of losing what you value that you don't want to have anyt... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090427/the-soloist-creatingsound-distinctly-yours.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/3939/20090427/the-soloist-creatingsound-distinctly-yours.htm Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:34:03 EDT Who cares what games we choose...little to win, nothing to lose. So goes the chorus of the Strawberry Alarm Clock's 1967 #1 hit song, Incense and Peppermints. This phrase — an iconic representation of '60s counterculture — came to mind the other day as I read what one of my Wharton MBA students wrote in response to this question I posed to them as we began the fourth quarter of their first year: How are you thinking about the future in light of how the economic context has changed since you ... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090324/will-the-next-mba-grads-take-more.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/2781/20090324/will-the-next-mba-grads-take-more.htm Tue, 24 Mar 2009 10:12:26 EDT A New York Times story (the most emailed article for much of today and yesterday) reports on the positive impact school recess has on academic performance. Here's how it begins: "The best way to ... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090225/grownups-need-recess-too.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/1338/20090225/grownups-need-recess-too.htm Wed, 25 Feb 2009 19:59:07 EST Too often I hear the word "leader" misused. It's a sad fact that many business professionals don't see themselves as leaders, mainly because "leader" is a term typically linked to people in positions of formal authority. This is a fallacy that undermines performance, in all aspects of life. Someone said to me recently, "I don't see myself as a leader. I do not feel comfortable embracing th... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090131/you-areleader-really.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/1337/20090131/you-areleader-really.htm Sat, 31 Jan 2009 23:07:28 EST In a recent blog post I wrote: An economic world turned upside down makes it easier to take a fresh look. This can open the door to making changes that will benefit you and the most important people in your life, now and in the long run....The crisis, in other words, can make it easier to experiment with new mental models or attitudes about your career and how it fits with your life's purpos... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081223/3-steps-toward-beingbetter-leader-in-2009.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/1336/20081223/3-steps-toward-beingbetter-leader-in-2009.htm Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:21:02 EST I had the privilege of conducting a workshop on Total Leadership a few days ago at Teach For America’s headquarters in New York. When you exit the elevator on TFA’s main floor in this modest office building on an industrial Midtown street, you see a blue wall on which these words appear in white: One day, all children in this nation will have the opportunity to attain an excellent ed... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081215/what-teach-for-america-can-teach-you.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/1335/20081215/what-teach-for-america-can-teach-you.htm Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:25:55 EST A few days ago, while on a break from leading a workshop at NASA's Johnson Space Center for members of its management team (including director and former astronaut Mike Coats), I had the special privilege of touring the cavernous Building 9, which houses a mock space station, space vehicles, and other amazing things. In addition to the thrill of seeing first-hand these mind-boggling inventions an... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081204/leadership-lessons-from-an-astronaut.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/1334/20081204/leadership-lessons-from-an-astronaut.htm Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:55:16 EST President-Elect Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, recently said: "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before." Emanuel-using a phrase of which Tom Friedman (no relation) is also fond (he heard it from economist Paul Romer)-was talking about how governments must take advantage of our current economi... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081124/do-not-waste-this-crisis.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/1333/20081124/do-not-waste-this-crisis.htm Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:28:40 EST One of the many reasons why President-Elect Obama inspires hope around the world is because of what he’s shown us so far of his abilities to be a profoundly effective leader of change. A few thoughts here on some of the critically important principles he demonstrated to awesome effect in his victorious campaign, as evidenced in his acceptance speech in Chicago’s Grant Park on November 4th: ... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081114/yes-we-can-change-new-chief-shows-how.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/1332/20081114/yes-we-can-change-new-chief-shows-how.htm Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:45:28 EST As a new political era dawns, what lessons about leadership can we grasp from Obama's triumph? So much has been said already about the man who called his last book The Audacity of Hope. I'll focus here on one factor that stands out, and it's the thing about him that worked political magic-Obama's authenticity, as an utterly distinctive yet powerfully representative American and citizen of... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081107/the-authenticity-of-obama.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/1331/20081107/the-authenticity-of-obama.htm Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:25:53 EST I just returned from London, where I spoke to a gathering of European business leaders focused on creating healthier workplaces at the annual Enterprise for Health conference. I won't tell you here how much fun it was, as the pre-dinner keynote speaker, to try to keep the attention of 125 ravenously hungry people while we were cruising up and down the Thames. But I do want to share with you my su... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081105/mental-or-physical-illness-which-is-the-bigger-workforce-problem.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/1330/20081105/mental-or-physical-illness-which-is-the-bigger-workforce-problem.htm Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:12:51 EST On the plane back to Philadelphia, I reflected on the workshop I'd just conducted with a group of senior women leaders at Microsoft's Redmond, WA headquarters. I'm struck by a word one of the participants called out in response to the question I've asked many corporate audiences recently: "What kind of leadership do we need now?" "Resilient," she said. Next week I'll be in London, teachin... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081024/resilience-what-neil-young-can-teach-microsoft-and-us.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/1329/20081024/resilience-what-neil-young-can-teach-microsoft-and-us.htm Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:23:17 EDT