When successful companies are profiled, the logical question to ask years later is, “How are they doing today?” In “Accountability” I profiled two dozen companies and their leaders whose commitment …

When Will You Decide Enough is Enough? In an earlier post, 8 Questions to Ask About Accountability, we tackled the topic of underperformance and took a fresh look at confronting …

Running the Race with a Sense of Urgency In 1936, political storm clouds were swirling. But as the Summer Olympics opened at Berlin’s Olympiastadion before a crowd of 100,000, the …

Uncover Leadership Development Clues Are you wondering whether your next generation of leaders has what it takes to lead people, make difficult decisions, and get things done? This simple idea …

Mount Rushmore turns 75 this year. As summer arrives and tourists take to the roads, Mount Rushmore will be among the top sites visited. The history and circumstances surrounding this …

On the recent occasion of my birthday, a well-wisher sent me 10 thoughts on growing old from American humorist Will Rogers. Will Rogers began building his reputation as a satirist …

A Backyard Miracle For the past four weeks my wife Janet and I have watched a mother duck sitting on a nest of eggs by our pool. From watching her, …

Today is the Ides of March. In ancient Rome, the day fell on the 15th day of March and was celebrated with religious observances and festivals. The date became notorious …

Human beings crave communication. We want it as affirmation, information, instruction and entertainment. Knowing this, we still miss the mark. We provide too little information. Or too much. We communicate …

Americans celebrate our Thanksgiving holiday in two days. I’m eager to gather with family and enjoy good food and good times. But right now I’ve paused to consider my good …

Every organization has certain jobs that must be done and done well for organizational success. Some of these jobs are dirty. Some are difficult. Some jobs might even be dangerous. …

Janet and I visited several wineries last week in the Tuscany region of Italy with our good friends Georgia and Tom Davis. There was a chill in the air, leaves …

Business leaders use sports analogies frequently because in sports there are rules, score-keeping, and, barring the occasional tie, winners. In high-performing enterprises, the organization’s values are their rules of engagement. …

The life and legacy of Ebby Halliday was celebrated last week. She was 104 years young when she died. I was traveling and unable attend her memorial, but was not …

Words—whether read by the eye or heard by the ear—are tools leaders use to create impressions that console, educate, influence and inspire. Gifted leaders have overcome speech impediments (Moses, King …

For Americans, the month of July is synonymous with celebrating our freedom. Our greatest freedom is the freedom of speech. This freedom-preserved as the First Amendment in our Bill of …

Those born after 1980 may be surprised that blockbuster movies were not always part of our summers. It was 40 years ago in the summer of 1975 that “Jaws” warned …

June in Antarctica is winter. By June 1915, British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew of 27 men were trapped in their ship Endurance, frozen solid in the ice. …

Hiring is on the uptick. At a career fair last month where I was speaking, about 50 companies were looking to fill approximately 3,000 positions. These companies had assigned key …

The Final Four is approaching and even though UCLA was defeated in the Sweet 16 round, it’s appropriate to recall former UCLA coach John Wooden’s thoughts on leadership. The school’s …