What the Dreadnoughtus Dinosaur Teaches us About Leadership 2.0
Did you hear about the recent discovery of the so-called Dreadnoughtus schrani dinosaur (found in Argentina)? When it lived on Earth it weighed some 85 tons. That’s 12 African elephants or 7 Tyrannosaurus Rexes. Or to translate into a modern equivalent, that’s over 40 Cadillac Escalades. That’s really, really big. So as usual that got me to […]
The Rosetta Probe and the New Era of Spacefarer Leadership
I guess you’ve been seeing all the news about the Rosetta probe that has now just rendezvoused with the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. To do that it had to travel 4 billion miles over a period of 10 years, and make several gravity-assisted flybys of several planets in an incredibly convoluted series of space maneuvers. What’s the odds […]
Serena Williams and the End of Leadership
Did you see Serena Williams flame out at the French Open? So what was that all about? Leadership is a phase in one’s life. You start it, do it and then finish it. How do you prepare for its end? There’s a gazillion books and articles on leadership (including my own). They all tell you […]
“Lean In” The Sequel: Are Women More Profitable than Men?
Many wise words have been penned about women in leadership. Most of them focus on the work-life balance, the glass ceiling and the leadership characteristics of women as distinct from men. But what about women’s profitability performance versus men? Why wouldn’t we be interested in that? Ever heard of a women investment manager? Yeah, I […]
Can Behavioral Agility Be Learned?
It’s now fashionable to talk about leadership agility. The idea is that it doesn’t matter so much what your strengths and weaknesses are; the trick is whether you can learn to act the strengths you need if you don’t possess them naturally. And it doesn’t matter what your weaknesses are either as long as you […]
Is Irrationality a Key Leadership Trait? Donald Sterling and Vladimir Putin
I can’t get used to all the reporting on Donald Sterling. The media have gone to town on it. He’s a bad guy no doubt; but there’s even worse. How about the unspeakable and truly despicable Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Bok Haram, if you want the lowest villain of them all? Nonetheless this got […]
When do You Need a Cowboy Reserve? The Cases of General Motors and Malaysian Airlines
I got to thinking about all this recently, what first with the unhappy event on MH370, and then the ignition lock saga at General Motors. Both were crises, in their own particular way. And both were badly handled. The question that arises for me is: how can smart leaders in good companies and organizations make […]
Are You Addicted to Leadership?
Is it possible that many, even most leaders, are addicted to leadership? That leadership is, or can be, a pathology for many of us? No, I am not talking about leadership as in power; that people become addicted to the power of leadership, although that can be a (small) part of the issue. I am […]
Unlock your Inner Neanderthal to Become a More Caring Leader
Did you see the latest news about Neanderthals? The bit about at least 20% of human DNA is from Neanderthals? It seems to me that this raises a lot of questions. Like what this tells us about “modern” humans. Maybe there is something really insightful we can glean from this. You know about the Neanderthals right? […]
Does Your Leader Have Substance – or Just Style?
How do you distinguish between leadership style and substance? First-time leaders usually don’t understand how closely they are being watched and that even the smallest signals count. That means insubstantial styles and actions also. See my article in Warren Bennis’ Leadership Excellence