A plan tells people what to do. Intent tells them what you’re trying to accomplish — so they can adapt when the plan meets reality. Years ago, commanding in a war exercise, I made a decision I have never forgotten. I attacked the enemy’s strength instead of his weakness. It was the wrong call, and … Read more
Why the little exceptions leaders make are never actually small. In the 1970s, engineers at Ford knew the Pinto’s fuel tank design had a serious flaw. In certain rear-end collisions, the tank could rupture and the car could catch fire. The leadership team ran the numbers. They weighed the projected cost of settling the wrongful … Read more
Before you can lead people anywhere, you have to know where you’re going — and so do they. Alice comes to a fork in the road and looks up at the Cheshire Cat. She asks which way she ought to go from here. The Cat answers that it depends a good deal on where she … Read more
You can feel the difference here. Most leaders stop too soon. In We’re All In, I described one of the most instructive cultural turnaround stories I have come across: the New Aetna. In the early 2000s, Aetna Healthcare was in serious trouble. It was losing roughly a million dollars a day. Its relationships with customers and … Read more
Why Every CEO Needs a Trusted Advisor Who Has Been in the Trenches In the military, the battle buddy concept is non-negotiable. You never go anywhere alone. Your battle buddy is your trusted partner, the person who shares your risks, watches your blind spots, holds you accountable when it matters most, and tells you the … Read more
When people show up but never buy in, and the clock is already running. In We’re All In, I described several case studies where cultures had decayed to the point of causing serious harm — not just to their bottom lines, but to real people. One of them was Barclays Bank. Barclays was among the leading … Read more
