Tracking Helps the Naughty and the Nice In the 1989 film “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” Clark Griswold announces to his loved ones assembled around the table for Christmas Eve dinner …

For a Fulfilling Life, You Need to Answer These Questions Sooner or Later Last month, we examined ten questions you should be asking about strategic planning. Today we’ll address seven questions everyone needs to answer—sooner or …

When You’re Done Learning, You’re Done Leading Every summer since 2018 I’ve shared reading recommendations because leaders are readers (and listeners of books and podcasts). Here are my picks for …

Five Steps to High Performance The year is half over. Are you where you expected to be? Or is your finely tuned machine starting to cough and sputter and drag? …

Some Leaders Can’t Handle the Truth The CEO of my business unit’s parent company called me to his office to tell me he had acquired a cross-town rival. My former …

Five (not so) New Laws of Leadership Where were you five years ago when the world shut down? I was returning to Dallas after speaking to Kansas City Vistage Chair Jeff Hutsell’s groups. Immediately …

Timeless Leadership Lessons We can’t get enough of Abraham Lincoln. It’s not just because Americans celebrate his birthday every year. This year, February 17 is designated as Presidents Day, combining …

What Results Does Your Culture Produce? A version of this blog was posted in October 2015. In October 2024, Georgia and Tom Davis celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary and have invited …

Advice I Wish I’d Gotten Sooner I developed my entrepreneurial spirit leading a division of Tracy-Locke and later an office of Edelman Worldwide. These two firms prized outcomes over bureaucracy …

Who Are Your A, B & C Players? As a new football season approaches, coaches are assigning grades to players and finalizing depth charts. Top leaders should do likewise as strategic …

If Ever There Was a Time to Slow Down and Re-Calibrate It’s Now Every summer since 2017 I’ve shared reading recommendations because leaders are readers. Here are my picks for …

80th Anniversary of D-Day Thursday marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day. This post is an excerpt from Greg Bustin’s Decision Time: Inspiration, Insight & Wisdom from History’s Make-or-Break Moments.  That the Allied invasion …

Are You Getting Bad Behavior? Look in the Mirror. Accountability is one of the most important factors in determining the success of an individual, a team or an enterprise. It’s also …

What’s Your Leadership Style? Whether you’re casting a vision, announcing a new initiative, reporting results or addressing a crisis, you’re selling an idea. Selling is part of the art of …

Unleash the Power of Accountability on Five Factors Signs indicate the year ahead will be challenging. Growth has slowed in some industries. Other industries are encountering headwinds. After navigating through …

A Time to Work on Yourself We’re entering the year’s busiest season. As the holidays approach, things seem to speed up. The paradox to be found amid all of the …

The American celebration of Thanksgiving can be traced to Virginia in 1619. But it was the celebration in New England in the autumn of 1621 that established some of the …

In the spirit of Halloween, here are 10 scary questions to ask yourself and then answer to get the most out of life. A version of today’s post first appeared 10 …

To Unlock Success, Get Clarity Around 7 Vital Questions Many companies I work with are now preparing plans and budgets for next year. I’ve led more than 250 strategic planning sessions so …

Laughing with Leaders Football season is here, so I’ve dusted off some classic quotes where coaches deliver profound messages wrapped in a funny package. What does any of this have …