A World at the Threshold As 2025 closes out, we see something quiet but consequential that has been unfolding beneath the surface of public life. Boundaries that once structured how people understood…
When fewer than 1 in 4 employees trust leadership, it becomes impossible to engage them in strategy, change, or operational goals. We have passed this inflection point. According to Gallup, only 23% o…
Old Faithful, the famous geyser in Yellowstone, once known as “Eternity’s Timepiece,” was due to erupt at 2:19pm. We arrived there (unaware of its schedule) at 2:35pm. Disappointed that we had missed…
As organizations navigate the complexities of return-to-office mandates, they must consider that shifting individual values have changed the effectiveness of familiar communication tactics. Many profe…
I asked the only woman to have made it to the senior ranks of a leading bank (that today scores high on diversity and inclusion) to what she attributed her success. “I was fortunate,” she said. “The bank hired a coach to teach me how to act and react like…
It’s 3:00 PM on a Friday. One team member hasn’t delivered a critical milestone and is not picking up the phone. Another team member, managing a complex project, has just asked you to step…
High-performing teams—those quick to succeed together at complex tasks— are a requirement for succeeding in times of uncertainty. But the traditional idea of leaders sitting at the hub of the team, di…
Cynicism is a silent assassin of team morale. The all-too-familiar refrain, “I’ll believe it when I see it,” results in nodding heads during meetings but dragging feet when it’…
In our age of unparalleled technological efficiency, the absence of human touch is palpable. My arrival in the United States last week, despite being super-efficient, left me feeling uneasy. The once…
Each new year it has been easy for me to intuit where the world is headed. I have not always been right of course, but at least with a sense of heading, I can help my clients set a course of action an…
In the world of senior leadership, where decisions carry significant weight and stakes are high, it’s not uncommon to find ourselves entrenched in our own perspectives. We sometimes prioritize,…
Managers don’t really mean it when they say that people are their most valuable assets. If they did mean it, they wouldn’t reduce their workforce as soon as the going gets tough. Letting people go is…
Discernment, the innate human capacity to distinguish between good and bad, true and false, right and wrong, beautiful and ugly, is in decline. We have become increasingly reliant on data to form our…
