Strategies for Business Leaders
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Succession Made Simple
What are your organization’s leadership needs, immediate and long term? What is your bench strength relative to those needs? And what are the competencies required…
Daunting But Not Daunted
They’ve all navigated significant change, tumult, and transition and come out on the other side to create something greater. In my conversations for The Making…
How to Compete, Part 3
Scene 1: “We’re getting ready to start our dinner hour, no laptops permitted,” the host at the locally-owned restaurant informed me as he stood at…
Proud vs Perfect
If anything was going to touch my propensity for perfection, it was writing a book. It did. And it has. The mental wrangling that it…
Can You Find Your Way Back?
“You sound off center,” my best friend said to me through the phone. No, actually. I felt good, fine, great, thank you very much. She…
How to Compete, Part 2
Remember that barista I wrote about back in February? The one who made it her business to know my name and drink order and have…
Millennials: Canaries in the Coal Mine?
What if Millennials are no different than any generation of employees that’s come before them, but merely more vocal about the needs and wants that…
Leading and Working in the Uncertain
Last week I had the privilege of interviewing Logan Bennett, President of the Alberta Avalanche Rescue Dog Association, for The Making Magnificence Project®. Logan is…
Not Betting the Farm
The greenhouse operation started from scratch and grown to significant success wasn’t a greenhouse operation when we began. It was a flower farm, modeled after…
When Work Really Is an Avalanche
I was walking in late to Logan Bennett’s talk at the Ignite Leadership Summit last week, a conference in beautiful Banff, Alberta that brought together…
Can We Pause For a Moment?
My best friend and I were exchanging girlish squeals of excitement at seeing one another, our usual greeting of the last twenty five years, and…
10 Reasons Your Strategy Got Shoved Into a Drawer
Last week I was speaking at the American Bankers Association annual conference, delivering a talk on Magnificent Leadership™ and the essential keys for leading during…
Passion That Drives Business Results
Last week I had the honor of speaking at the annual Alan Weiss Million Dollar Consulting Mentor Summit for the third year in a row…
Light Yourself On Fire
Steve Haggerty was his name. And he spoke with a thick, South African accent that I initially strained to understand. He was on fire, a…
How to Compete
“Sarah?” she said. Then, once again, a bit louder: “Sarah!” I was second in line from the register. Although I heard my name, it was…
- Speaking ·
Banff Bound. With a Special Discount to My Network
If you’ve been on the fence about heading up to Banff to attend the Ignite Leadership Summit and take in the grandeur of the Canadian…
Strategic Direction: Getting Out of the Weeds
Last week one of my colleagues and I met for the sole purpose of setting time aside to think strategically about our businesses, to set…
Default Settings
Last week, I had the honor of being sandwiched between the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and a former Director of the…
When Excellence Is Flattened
There are only a few ingredients in French bread: flour, water, yeast, and salt. Which does not mean it’s easy to make. The opposite, actually.…
Giving Conformity Its Due
During a recent conversation with my best friend, who works with systems thinking, I asked the rhetorical question of where in the heck we ever…
The One Thing
I once arrived at the annual strategic retreat of a senior leadership team to find that they’d been in an intense brainstorming session for two…
- Books ·
The List You’ll Want to Check Twice
In my career, I have the honor of getting to know and work with some pretty insightful and dedicated leaders. We often share a love…
Are You Prepared to Take Off the Gloves?
It’s turned cold here in North Carolina. We’ve gone from daytime temps nearing 60 degrees Fahrenheit to those topping out in the 30s. If you’ve…
Rightful Companions
“It’s supposed to be hard,” she said. I’m working on my book, staring at a blank page a lot of the time. My friend told…
Are you elevating your leadership as your business grows?