Can a Master Algorithm become the Next US President?
I just read “The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World” by Pedro Domingos. Fair warning: it’s not for the faint-hearted. Domingos is a leading researcher in the area of machine learning and he’s a zealot for his subject. It’s pretty technical so the book is kind of […]
Insiders, Outsiders and Trump Mania – Can a Successful Leader in One Career Always be Successful in Others?
I guess like everyone else I have been following the GOP candidates show closely. Because of my interest in leadership, I am less focused on the ideological issues than of which of the candidates are most likely to be successful in the top leadership position of the US Presidency. The age-old issue is this; if […]
What have Octopuses got to do with Leadership?
Well, you gotta think outside the box occasionally right? I got the idea from the Economist that recently published an article on how octopuses think. Apparently they don’t really have a central brain like we humans. Instead their neurons are dispersed around their body, especially in their tentacles. So actually they think with their tentacles not with […]
Do employee engagement surveys filter out potential great leaders?
Did you see the recent article “Working at Amazon Is a Soul-Crushing Experience“? It was written by an ex-employee so he should know, or should he? It’s raised much controversy ranging from the defenders of Bezos to those who say I told you so. We have other poster-boys for alleged employee abuse including Elon Musk […]
Invisible Leaders Are the Best?
Much of the talk about leadership is about how the leader looks and how he should act to be seen as being most effective by her followers. But I think there’s another perspective; that the best leaders, to paraphrase the old saying about children in Victorian times, are best not seen, and not heard. That […]
The Leader-Choreographer – Aim for Emotional Impact
Was doing some coaching last week and met a young lady who had impressive skills in arranging events. She’s a leader but doesn’t know it yet. And her lesson is a good one for all of us. She arranges conferences for her company. But although young she has already migrated to making these conferences into […]
Could brain phishing hijack a leader’s strategies?
Did you see that Microsoft has developed software and a website that can guess your age just by looking at a photo? No more lying about our age I guess. And I suppose you have seen the numerous reports about how researchers can now identify your emotions based on brainwaves seen from MRI scans? So now we’re […]
Low EQ = High Business Acumen?
Well I’m sure that this post will get me flamed but here’s going anyhow. Emotional intelligence is hot. It’s supposed to make you a better leader. How so? By making you more sensitive to your fellow man, it’s supposed to make your followers more engaged, more loyal to you and so on. The same with […]
Protocol versus Passion – EBOLA and the Doctors Without Borders Leadership Model
The EBOLA crisis is giving us a pointed lesson about leadership. On the one hand there’s a rules-based approach to addressing the crisis adopted by government and the US medical bureaucracy. On the other there’s the passion-based approach championed by the NGOs and particularly Doctors without Borders (donate to this great organization here). The protocol […]
Oscar de la Renta: The End of Snap, Crackle and Pop Leadership?
So Oscar de la Renta just died. A fashion icon par excellence. Can a fashionista be anything more than a dressed up peacock, no matter how wealthy? Every era has its leadership zeitgeist. Usually in the heady times, the zeitgeist favors pomp and circumstance, narcissists, unachievable visions and huge fortunes. That was the early 2000s. […]