Every year, companies make huge mistakes during their strategic planning sessions. These mistakes result in frustration, lost dollars and another missed chance to get it right. This year, avoid those …

Most plans fail. Plans rarely fail because of misguided strategy or a lack of good ideas.  If anything, organizations have a bad habit of putting too many good ideas in …

Plenty has been written about a leader’s first 100 days. The concept of looking at a leader’s accomplishments over a 100-day period was introduced by U.S President Franklin D. Roosevelt …

MLK’s I Have A Dream Speech – A Lesson for Leaders Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech. MLK’s speech – originally entitled …

Awareness & Meeting Expectations I was stopped for a red light with cars on either side of me In the lane to my left were seven cars waiting for the …

People leave companies two ways: forever and for a little while. In both cases, the workers who are left behind get a true picture of what their departed colleagues were …

In 1933, thanks to the modern-day marvel of radio, the Lone Ranger rode into our lives. The Masked Man and Tonto are still alive and well 80 years later as …

Summer’s here and that means vacations are here, too. Will your organization maintain its momentum during summer, or will your plans slow down or fall behind as your talented team …

In a private workshop I conducted recently for a manufacturing company, the 22 front-line supervisors said their team meetings had started with such promise then hit a wall after three …

It’s mid-term. We’ve reached the halfway point of 2013. How would you grade your organization’s performance? Would your team agree? What about your bank, your board or any other impartial …

Aaron Hernandez was arrested June 26 on charges of murder, and two days later the New England Patriots waived him from the team. This past Saturday, the Patriots opened the …

Strategic Planning Tips Learned from America’s Forefathers In two days – July 4 – Americans celebrate Independence Day. This national holiday commemorates the passage by the Second Continental Congress in …

Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of #PresidentJohn F.Kennedy’s speech in #WestBerlin. In this Cold War-era speech before 450,000 people near the #BerlinWall, #JFK delivered in German the memorable line #IchbineinBerliner, …

How many chances do we give those outside our organization to disappoint us? Based on my own experience, only one or two chances. How many chances do we give those …

I was in #Chicago this past weekend getting our daughter settled in to start a summer internship with high-powered ad agency #LeoBurnett. Jordan and I indulged our inner #FerrisBueller and …

Ranking Employee Performance School may be out for the summer, but for businesses and the women and men who lead them, school is always in session. Effective leaders learn continuously. …

The CEOs and Key Executives of my three Vistage groups recently returned from their annual spring trips to resorts in the Texas Hill Country and Islamorada, Florida. The purpose of …

Next Monday, Americans celebrate Memorial Day. We take advantage of the long weekend and coast-to-coast gorgeous weather to kick off the grilling season. The original purpose of Memorial Day was …

Three weeks ago, I was speaking to a group of executives in Vancouver BC. I shared a cartoon I’ve had for some time that shows the senior executive of a …

16 Questions for Leaders When it comes to accountability in the workplace, it’s tempting to shine the spotlight on people when the results we get are not the results we …