“Many CEOs and leaders you meet from the outside seem to lead exciting lives,” Matt Murray, former editor of the Wall Street Journal, told me recently. “But in real life many of them are not very functional human beings.” —Peter Vanham, Fortune, CEO Daily The idiom “it’s lonely at the top” has been around a long […]
You know those people you always have a great conversation with whenever you talk? My friend Art Petty is one of those. Always upbeat, inquisitive, and creative. (He also publishes great content and creates cool leadership development programs. Look him up and sign up for his blog.) I told Art about an upcoming return fishing […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
I’m working with a few executives who’ve been tagged as possible CEOs. This is fun for them and me. All are highly motivated and self-aware. With these assignments, I typically conduct a 360-degree feedback session with the coachee’s boss, peers, and those who report to them so that we can develop a list of priorities […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]