The World Didn’t Snap Back

Before the pandemic and all of its 2nd and 3rd-order effects, most of us lived inside a predictable rhythm. Commutes. Office chatter. Calendars packed with meetings that required us to be physically present. We may not have loved all of it, but we understood the tempo. Work had a structure we could point to. Then the … Read more

The World Has Changed

Polarization and the New Leadership Reality Over the past several years, I’ve repeatedly heard a similar question from leaders across industries: “Why does everything feel harder than it used to?” It feels that way, not because people are less capable or because markets are tougher. It‘s because the social environment around us has fundamentally shifted. Polarization has … Read more

Disciplined Leadership: Becoming Better at “Distance Leadership”

This is part of a series of blogs on the theme of ‘Disciplined Leadership.’ “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.” – Max De Pree So many conversations I hear these days are about the challenges of virtual … Read more

Adaptive Leadership, Part 1: Introduction

Welcome to a new series of blogs on adaptive leadership. The global threat of the unforeseen and insidious COVID-19 virus brought on unusual and challenging times. Throughout the pandemic, I conducted webinars, provided podcasts and blogs, and offered advice and counseling. This series is based largely on a webinar I conducted last year that addressed … Read more

The Fear Factor

“Only the paranoid survive.” – attributed to Andrew Grove, former CEO of Intel Happy New Year!  Here comes 2021, and we are rolling into it with all kinds of weird aspects of life continuing from the nightmarish year we experienced in 2020.  In addition to an insidious pandemic, there is stress everywhere you look.  Unemployment … Read more

Lessons of 2020

“History is who we are and why we are the way we are.” – David McCullough I don’t think we’ll find many people who disagree with the notion that 2020 has been a truly historic year. To say that it has been transformational is probably an understatement.  We could go on and on about what’s … Read more