Blog

Musings, stories and insights on leadership practices from over 30 years of lived experience as a senior executive management consultant

After three decades as a senior executive management consultant working in boutique firms all the way to being a partner in a large premier global firm I think I have learned a thing or two about effective leadership and organizational development practices. Today such practices have become part of mature management science curriculum taught in higher education. However when I started my journey my mentors were progressive thought leaders exploring new thinking in leadership and organization transformation: Kouzes, Posner, Bennis, Argyris, Heifetz, dePree, Beckhard, Nadler, Block, Leider, Tushman, Schein, Jaques, Senge, Drucker and others.  Through countless client engagements I have established an informed confidence in knowing what works and what doesn’t through curiosity, examined experience, and direct involvement consulting to real executives within a wide variety of organizations across many industries in several countries.

While this is regrettable today, it seems learning and reflection has to come in bite-size pieces that are pushed in front of our eyeballs and pre-frontal cortex with the hope of attaining momentary relevance and application. Perhaps then, such brief pieces of insight can then act as seeds planted in a fertile mind and heart to blossom later into a fully mature practice a leader embraces as his or her own.

I have organized these blogs into four categories

A group of people sitting around a table.

WHAT LEADERSHIP AND RHYTHM & BLUES HAVE IN COMMON

If you don't know where you are going any road will take you there George...
A woman standing in front of two men.

LEADERSHIP AS A STATE OF MIND

A leader is a dealer in hope. Napoleon Bonaparte Until recently I was a partner...
A group of people standing around a table.

SEASONS, CYCLES AND LEADERSHIP

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them Albert...
Three people reading a document together.

LOOKING TO THE PAST TO BE MORE EFFECTIVE IN THE FUTURE

It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but...
A woman standing in front of two men.

INEFFECTIVE SENIOR LEADERS CAN BE MADDENING…AND DAMAGING

You are not the center of the universe, that job is already taken Anonymous I...
A group of people sitting at a table.

HOW I GOT STARTED (PART ONE)

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.  Boldness has genius, power and...
A group of people sitting at a table.

HOW I GOT STARTED (PART TWO)

What dreams do you need to act on so that you'll feel that you've lived...
A man and woman shaking hands with an older gentleman.

TAKING STOCK OF YOUR YEAR: A LEADER’S REFLECTION

Questions you cannot answer are usually far better for you than answers you cannot question...
Two men high-fiving in hats.

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP CHARACTER MATTERS – I KNEW IT! (PART ONE)

We are all leaders. Each one of us is setting an example for someone else, and...
Two men high-fiving in hats.

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP CHARACTER WINS AND VIRTUOSOS RULE – I KNEW IT! (PART TWO)

Our souls are not hungry for fame, comfort, wealth or money. Our souls are hungry...