Nir Halevy on Motivating Your Workforce

The Stanford professor explains how social distance (construal-level theory) affects how people respond to feedback.

Humble Inquiry: The Gentle Art of Asking Instead of Telling

Communication is essential in a healthy organization. But all too often when we interact with people—especially those who report to us—we simply tell them what we think they need to know. This shuts them down. To generate bold new ideas, to avoid disastrous mistakes, to develop agility and flexibility, we need to practice Humble Inquiry.

Ed Schein defines Humble Inquiry as “the fine art of drawing … [ Read more ]

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Solitude is to genius the stern friend. He who should inspire and lead his race must be defended from traveling with the souls of other men, from living, breathing, reading, and writing in the daily, time-worn yoke of their opinions.

How to Develop and Select Your New Leadership Profiles

The Blue Ocean Leadership Grid can be used to identify what leadership acts and activities should be eliminated, reduced, raised, and created in pursuit of high impact at low cost.

Leadership Character and Corporate Governance

When it comes to selecting and assessing CEOs, other C-suite level executives or board members, the most important criteria for boards to consider are competencies, commitment and character. This article focuses on the most difficult of these criteria to assess – leadership character – and suggests the eleven key dimensions of character that directors should consider in their governance roles.

How to See Your Current Leadership Reality

Without a common understanding of where leadership stands today and is falling short, a forceful case for change cannot be made.

Abraham Lincoln

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.

7 Surprising Ways to Boost Your Powers of Persuasion

If you don’t know how to effectively get people to see things your way, it’s time for a refresher course in the gentle art of persuasion.

A Refresher on Storytelling 101

I work with future leaders at Stanford to help them develop compelling stories that achieve their management goals — and I’ve developed a seven-part formula for storytelling success in presentations and business meetings.

Stephen Covey

Management works in the system. Leadership works on the system.

The Best Leaders Are Insatiable Learners

Nearly a quarter century ago, at a gathering in Phoenix, Arizona, John W. Gardner delivered a speech that may be one of the most quietly influential speeches in the history of American business — a text that has been photocopied, passed along, underlined, and linked to by senior executives in some of the most important companies and organizations in the world. I wonder, though, how … [ Read more ]

Paul B. Thornton

Some people can’t see beyond today. They have no vision. Other people struggle describing their vision. Still others have a simple, clear, and compelling vision but they never take action. Effective leaders:
1. Have an exciting vision
2. Clearly describe their vision
3. And energetically pursue their vision

Dale Carnegie

When we are dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bustling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity.

One-liners for Executives

One-liners are very short statements that purport to capture the essence of a situation. At their best, they can bring clarity and precision to complexity and confusion. They can also focus decision-making. The knock on them is that they can oversimplify and create only an illusion of an understanding. Regardless, one-liners are part of every executive’s world. Here are 15 of the … [ Read more ]

Between Venus and Mars: 7 Traits of True Leaders

Control is a mirage. The most effective leaders right now–men and women–are those who embrace traits once considered feminine: Empathy. Vulnerability. Humility. Inclusiveness. Generosity. Balance. Patience.

How Do You Motivate Your Employees?

Sometimes, when a CEO addresses his or her employees, less is more. That’s what Nir Halevy found when he and Yair Berson examined the way in which leaders — whether they are country presidents, chief executives or midlevel managers — communicate with their followers. The two researchers looked specifically at something known as construal level theory, which states that the psychological distance between a leader … [ Read more ]

Cynthia McCauley’s Manual for Leadership Development

The leadership scholar explains why measurable, experience-based programs are key to helping executives develop their potential.

The New Ecology of Leadership: Revisiting the Foundations of Management

This management thinker and author writes that “the central challenge in the Western World now is not to make existing organizations more efficient and to allocate resources. That struggle has moved to the East. The challenge here is to reinvent our economies, to innovate and create wealth.” Readers will learn which tactics and tools they can use to achieve these extremely important goals.

The Communication Strategy Sure to Inspire Employees

Improve the way you communicate with your employees and create a motivating vision by tapping into your company’s past, present and future.