Tag: Effective Leadership

CEO Coaching: Why Did You Succeed?

“Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance!” —Unknown It’s a good idea to understand what happened when you fail. Not to dwell on it, but to learn. As an individual and as a business.  It’s also valuable to understand what happened when you succeed. Not to claim the title […]

CEO Coaching: From Fear to Curiosity

I recently heard a piece on National Public Radio celebrating the 40th anniversary of “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.” In his recap, the reporter highlighted the children’s transition from fear to curiosity in response to meeting the alien. This concept struck me. What a wonderful perspective! Perhaps not if you encounter a ravenous grizzly bear by yourself […]

CEO Coaching: Leading, Not Presiding

While preparing to review a CEO, the chairman of a board I worked with said, “He doesn’t lead; he just presides!” It was a brilliant description of a CEO who was loved by his people but ineffective in his role. It’s about balance. Lest I get off on the wrong foot, I passionately believe that […]

CEO Coaching: The Problem With Intuitive Leaders

I’ve coached folks who probably have an IQ that’s double mine. Some are linear thinkers who are process-oriented, and some are more entrepreneurial and rely heavily on intuition. Both can be great leaders. But process orientation and intuition can, as with most strengths, be disabling.    Highly process-oriented leaders can create a bureaucratic mess by […]

CEO Coaching: Where Do You Stand?

We needed to remodel a bathroom and bedroom, and my son had friends from the Marines with a construction business. With his endorsement and their background as Marines, we hired them as soon as they gave us a proposal. We’re glad we did! One of them, Tom, is an avid fly-fisher as am I. (I […]

CEO Coaching: Frustration Is Normal

Many words can describe successful CEOs: smart, aggressive, resilient, etc. So why is “frustrated” one of a CEO’s normal states? First, it’s all those people around you! People come in many models with poorly written instruction manuals. Different things motivate them. They have different skills. And they must work together! This creates the wonderful puzzle […]

Want to 10X Your Revenue? Start Here!

After returning from a recent trip, I called my wife from the airport to see if she wanted to get dinner. She’d already eaten and said the fridge was bare, so I decided to use my monthly “grease and salt” ration and stop at a drive-thru.  I pulled into the burger joint drive-thru with three […]