Is employee entanglement the way to build an exceptional organization? At first glance, the idea is a bit disturbing. I squirmed a little when I read this use of the …
How to be a Good Coach: Tips for Employee-Focused Leaders
Tom Walter is a “serial entrepreneur” who has launched nearly 30 companies. He is the CEO of Tasty Catering, named one of Winning Workplaces best small companies in 2010. He …
Toothpaste, Leadership, and the Art of No
The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It is very easy to say yes. ~Tony Blair One of my personal pet peeves is the time it takes to …
How One Small Business CEO Went from Bully to Best-in-Class
Johnson, on campus at Benedictine University where she is a student in the doctoral program in Values-Driven Leadership. CEO Indigo Johnson is a strategic, forward-thinking, dynamic leader. What you might …
A Case Study in Doing What Needs to be Done
One of my favorite novels is Richard Russo’s Straight Man, the tale of an aging college professor who finds he can no longer tolerate the world in which he works. …
Leadership is About Expressing Yourself – Not Proving Yourself
Leadership is first being, then doing. Everything the leader does reflects what he or she is. Therefore, leadership is about expressing yourself, not proving yourself. ~Warren Bennis I recently attended a …
Five Steps to Gaining Company-Wide Discretionary Thinking
If every employee gave just five or ten percent more than the required thoughts every day at work, how much stimulus towards performance excellence would result? Is it possible to …
Carrots & Sticks are So Last Century
As the parent of a Chicago Public School student, last week was a challenging one. More than just interrupting our newly established school day routine, and our regular traffic patterns …
Beyond the Rubber Stamp: Strategic Leadership and the Role of the Board
Why are Boards barely mentioned in the literature when talking about leadership in any form? One of the most important roles of the Board, in addition to their fiduciary responsibility—or …