Executive Leadership & Culture Blog
Pivoting in the Face of the Pandemic: How One CEO Moved His Company to an Entirely New Industry
Gamini Hewawasam leads two businesses from his home in the western Chicago suburbs. The first manages travel contracts with major airlines for clients. The second, based in his home country of Sri Lanka, manufactures machine parts. That is, they did until just recently. When Sri Lanka’s quarantine was ordered, Hewawasam…
Continue reading→Leadership & Poetry: Calling Us to be More Fully Human
During times of crises, poetry can be a leadership tool to help shape our humanity. Photo by Andy Feliciotti on Unsplash At first blush, leadership and poetry may seem to have little in common. However, a number of management studies have suggested various methods for leaders to leverage poetry, including…
Continue reading→Medical Exercise Trainer Creates Desk Workout to Help Your Body Recover from Sitting All Day
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels Our Rising to the Challenge initiative highlights stories of leaders who use the resources they have (their businesses, skills, and networks) to have a positive impact on others during the coronavirus. Today, we feature the story of medical exercise trainer Rob Croonborg, of suburban…
Continue reading→Enabling Productive Remote Work: Expert Tips for Staying Connected and Engaged
This article was originally published at Forbes.com in early March 2020. Two weeks ago, we did a quick web search to find out how many companies were moving to remote work in response to the fast-moving novel coronavirus. We found only a handful of examples, mostly related to possible exposure….
Continue reading→Gratitude & Learning to Pivot in Times of Crisis
Editor’s Note: Dr. Patrick Farran’s research has included aspects of gratitude, so when the coronavirus changed the nature of his work, and his family plans, Farran decided to focus on what he had rather than what he lacked. In this post, originally published at the Ad Lucem website, Farran offered…
Continue reading→Helping Those Who Have Lost Work or Need Emotional Support Because of the Coronavirus
How two CEOs are responding When speaking about values-driven leadership, we often remind people that values become most evident during difficult times. A company’s list of values may look nice on the website but mean very little if they are forgotten during challenging seasons, like the current coronavirus pandemic. For…
Continue reading→Recommended by Leaders: Simple Acts of Kindness that Cost Under $30
Photo by Kristina Paukshtite from Pexels Here’s how you can support neighbors and essential workers during the COVID-19 crisis As business leaders during the pandemic, you may be trying to solve expensive, time consuming challenges to your business. Your attention is needed there. But when we asked executives for information…
Continue reading→Heroes Work Here: Creating Acts of Appreciation at Work
While many of America’s white-collar workforce has the luxury of working from their couches right now, the nation’s “essential workers” are still on the job, stocking shelves at grocery stores, driving trains and buses, and healing the sick in our hospitals. KSB Hospital in Dixon, Illinois, is showing appreciation for…
Continue reading→Emotional Health, Economic Wellbeing: Resources for Leaders Facing the Coronavirus Pandemic
The coronavirus has business and community leaders operating in a period of great uncertainty and disruption. The following resources help address shared concerns and answer common questions. Each resource was recommended by the executive students, faculty, or other partners of the Center for Values-Driven Leadership. While we hope…
Continue reading→Reinventing Myself: What a 24/7 Global CEO is Learning as a Doctoral Student
As a student, Hewawasam (standing) says the doctoral program is giving him the opportunity to reinvent himself. As a child growing up in Sri Lanka, Gamini Hewawasam dreamed of being an airline pilot. As an adult, he began to work for a national airline; this…
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