The other day I ran into a fellow who is the reluctant president of a board that I'm on. He's an accomplished individual but rather quiet and reserved by nature. I don't think he enjoys his leadership role but I used this chance encounter to ask again about a pending issue for the board to …
Where Do You Get Your Organizational Power?
I was recently discussing a sensitive issue with a client regarding a senior member of his leadership team. The approach my client decided to take was both clever and empathic and avoided straining any relationships along the way. I mentioned to him that I thought he had excellent political …
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“Hate” A Colleague’s Idea? 4 Ways to Keep Your Attitude in Check
I was at an interfaith service recently and a Muslim cleric stated the following: While it feels good to hate what we believe is bad, what is really bad is the hating mind. I thought a lot about that. In today’s politics - national, state, and local - we see a lot of effort to demonize or …
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What I Told the CEO of a $10B Company about Productivity
I met with one of my most admired clients last week and we had an interesting discussion about his efforts to maintain momentum for all the initiatives that he has underway. This is the second company I have worked with "Sam" at and he is currently President and CEO of a firm that is rapidly …
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The Importance of GRIT – My Recent Adventure in the Wild
There is an interesting Ted Talk about Grit, which is defined as having the passion and perseverance to invest in a pursuit of longer term results. The presenter is Angela Duckworth, author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. Grit requires stamina to stay with a task or cause. We are …
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How to Deconstruct Resistance to Change – 3 Real Life Scenarios
I recently gave a speech on the subject of "Delivering Results in an Era of Change" to a group of CEOs that are members of the Association Forum of Chicago. This is a 4000 member organization that serves the large number of associations that are headquartered in the area. The overall theme of the …
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When Was Your Last “Mental Health Day”?
A recent article in the Chicago Tribune related the story of how a leader provided a strong affirmation to one of his employees who was taking a day off to "focus on my mental health". This was interesting because the leader was lauded by many for being supportive when one of his staff informed …
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How to Manage a Team Dialogue Constructively
I recently facilitated a meeting with a very successful team of financial advisors who manage client assets in excess of $7 billion. The executive committee of this group has been a client of mine for many years. Two retirements, one recent and one pending, had created friction within the team as …
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Why Won’t Somebody Do Something About…???
How often do you hear this question at work when some issue or concern goes unresolved for an extended period? Procrastination or neglect can often make the resolution of these concerns both time-consuming and expensive; but it happens over and over. With the weather improving here in the Chicago …
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Let Your Story Out: How to Construct Great Business Stories
I thought I wanted to be a playwright because I was interested in stories and telling stories. - Francis Ford Coppola Note: This post was originally published on Oct 13, 2015. I was reminded of it during a recent speaking engagement I had, so I'm republishing it today with an updated intro for …
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Podcast: Business Writers Radio Interview with Willy Steiner
I recently had some fun doing a live radio interview. The folks at Business Writers Radio asked me to discuss my new book, Discover the Joy of Leadership, and some stories about my experiences with leadership and management development. In this fast-paced 30 minute segment we discuss: The No …
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Are You Winning the War for Talent?
15+ years ago Jim Clifton of the Gallup organization wrote a book called The Coming Jobs War. The consultant, McKinsey and Company, warned that they saw a "war for talent" brewing for the foreseeable future. Both groups warned that having a "good" job will increasingly be difficult to obtain and …
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