“Revitalizing squadrons” was named General David Goldfein’s top priority when he took over as US Air Force’s Chief in 2016. Executive Leadership Group – meaning Wendi leading, plus me and several ELG colleagues – were asked to provide organizational behavior expertise to the Air Force team directed to tackle the problem (hey, they hire the very best!) and led by Maj General Stephen Davis.
To Innovate Don’t Mistake Symbols for Reality
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The masters of innovation–Netflix, Salesforce.com, Google, Tesla Motors–aren’t trying to innovate. They are trying to dominate. These winners keep winning because they know which rocks to break and which targets to shoot for.
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Staying in Touch with Reality: 3 Ways Leaders Can Avoid a Stumble
“How can leaders stay in touch with reality – and out of the headlines?” Wendi and I wondered this aloud over dinner with Dr. Christine Hunter and husband Bob.
Leadership Transition: Leave Your Campsite Better Than You Found It
Leadership transition is fraught with folks who leave a mess behind. C-level transition, especially, can have an aspect of political pragmatism that leaves a stinky mess.
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Accomplishing More with Less, Instead of Doing More with Less (rerun)
“What’s the first thing we do to help clients find money?” That was the question Wendi and I set out to answer when we had a forehead-thumping déjà vu. Although we didn’t phrase it quite that way, we did answer that question here about two years ago. The answer still seems pretty timely, so we’re running it again, minus a couple of typos:
Genghis Kahn and Principles of Leadership
We stand corrected. That was after having carelessly made the assertion that no foreign power had successfully occupied Afghanistan since Alexander the Great. Now, “standing corrected” is the problem of being a dilettante in front of a smart guy like Prof. Peter Dutton at the U.S. Naval War College. “Nope,” he said. “Genghis Kahn did it, too.”
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When Failure Leads to Innovation, and When It Doesn’t (Part Two: The Leader’s Job)
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Henry Ford said that failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently.
But many of us begin again with no increase in intelligence. Or, we don’t get smarter because we won’t risk failure in the first place.
Is Your Strategic Plan DOA? Answer These Five Questions to Find Out
Yikes! It’s the end of the year, and we’re all supposed to have a bunch of stuff done by now – like writing our strategic plans. But the deadly temptation with strategic plans is just to “git-er-done” so we can “git-er-out-the-door!” You see, simply getting it done and out the door doesn’t mean much if the plans never actually materialize.
When Failure Leads to Innovation, and When It Doesn’t (Part One)
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Successful innovation requires successful experimentation, and successful experimentation requires eagerness to learn from failure. This has become a cliché because it holds true, time and time again.
The great experimenter Thomas Edison is famous for comments such as, “I have not failed.
On Virtue and Honor: Memo from John Paul Jones
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Deep wisdom directed at today’s leaders isn’t what you’d expect from a guy who’s been dead since 1792. But Captain John Paul Jones, having been successfully channeled by Rear Admiral Rob Wray, has stern advice for today’s officers of the American Navy.
