Tag: Effective Leadership

When Is It OK to Fail As a CEO?

Twice in my career I quit high-paying jobs (one a CEO slot and one running a 7,000-person division) because I had unethical or wrongheaded people to report to. Although this certainly cost me a great deal of money, I don’t regret either decision. As a CEO coach, I’ve run into many successful leaders who’ve either […]

The Lazy CEO

I ran into one of these rare creatures recently. Rare because they usually don’t last. Kind of like a lazy wildebeest, the one the lion catches. I’m always puzzled (and disgusted!) at how they came to be and how they survive! When you find a lazy CEO, they usually own the company. Maybe Daddy did. […]

CEO Coaching: Eating Pig

I recently read the book “Spies: The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West” by Calder Walton. A good read that covers a broad swath of history, especially if you’re interested in spycraft. The Bay of Pigs disaster was one of many events covered. You may recall that the Kennedy administration sent a handful of […]

CEO Coaching: Mickey Mouse Management

A client recently recommended the book “The Ride of a Lifetime” by Robert Iger, the CEO of The Walt Disney Company. It’s a fascinating story with some good lessons. One interesting subplot occurs during his tenure as COO, working for longtime CEO Michael Eisner. Eisner built a “strategic planning group” (called Strat Planning) that reported […]

CEO Coaching: Expectations

I had an interesting conversation about expectations with a thoughtful CEO whom I work with. I’ve had similar conversations with many. Clients often ask, “Shouldn’t I be able to expect ____?” In other words, should a leader be able to expect certain behaviors from his team members without clearly stating the expectation?  The short answer […]

A Joker as CEO

If you don’t watch the NBA, you may not know who Nikola Jokić is (often called “The Joker”). He plays for the Denver Nuggets and is arguably the best player in basketball as I write this. Although his game is impressive, as a fair-weather basketball fan, I find his persona even more so. He isn’t […]

Abracadabra: You’re a Leader!

If I waved a magic wand and and proclaimed, “You are now Chief Basket Weaver,” would you suddenly know how to make baskets? Of course not!  If I said you’re a leader or Chief Thingamajig Officer, does that mean you now know how to manage, lead, or design “thingamajigs”? No! Yet almost weekly, I run […]