Fascination with Gandhi as a young man
Read moreWhen I talk of society’s widespread misconceptions about leadership, one of my favorites is the notion that leaders are charismatic. As a society, we tend to think that charisma is a sort of mysterious and divine gift, given only to a select few. If Gandhi, Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela became transformational leaders, it is at least in part
Some Impressions from Latin America
Read moreThe following are some personal reflections I wrote on my flight last week from Santa Cruz, Bolivia to the US, where I made a brief stopover before returning to Europe. It is a fascinating experience for me to interact with these Latin American audiences. The last two days, I have been in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. As in many of the
News from my Latin American Tour
Read moreFor the past two weeks, I have been on tour with Harvard Business Review Latin America, and also doing private conferences for several companies in El Salvador, Bolivia, Peru and Argentina. The central subject of the tour is “Leading with Your Own Story”, a full or half-day presentation about how anyone can improve as an inspirational leader and communicator. Of
Some thoughts about thinking
Read moreAs I have been writing for the past few weeks, the BlackBerry Blackout has caused me to reflect even more deeply than before about how we spend our time in today’s wired world. In addition, the past weeks provided numerous opportunities to talk with business school students about how they use their smart phones. Many of these young people today
People who do get to the top are those who learn to be reflective and purposeful
Read moreIn the previous post, I referred to a February 2002 Harvard Business Review article entitled “Beware the Busy Manager”. In their research, authors Heike Burch and Sumantra Ghoshal studied managers from a dozen large companies for nearly 10 years, to see how efficiently and effectively they were spending their time. The general conclusion of the study is somewhat alarming: a
The BlackBerry Blackout and the Bigger Picture, part II
Read moreThis week, my reflection continues about the role of smart phones, email, and reflection in our daily lives. In a February 2002 Harvard Business Review article entitled “Beware the Busy Manager”, Heike Burch and Sumantra Ghoshal argue that failure to spend reflective time is one of the modern manager’s major shortcomings. I could not agree more. In fact, my coaching