Last week, I spent a couple of days with eighty leaders from across my state working on defining our collective vision for the future of the state.  As a part of this process, we were asked to break into groups to define what makes something “great.” This may seem like a fairly easy task.  But,

In Blanchard’s work with culture clients, a key part of a successful culture initiative is the transition of the senior leader from a self-serving leader to a servant leader. Self-serving leadership is, unfortunately, a very strongly modeled approach to influencing others in Western society. Servant leadership is gaining strength – and high-performance, values-aligned cultures require

Advertising legend Alex Osborn not only founded one of the most successful ad agencies in the world, BBDO, he also coined the phrase “brainstorming” and is credited for inventing the technique.  Later in his career, he invented another technique that is lesser-known, but one that is incredibly powerful: SCAMPER.  This name is an acronym and

Kevin Eikenberry published a blog post called “Secrets to a Real Vacation.” In it, he offers several great questions to consider when taking time away. He also addresses the issue of how connected you can be and still have a vacation. Can you check email once a day and still feel refreshed when you return?

What we usually get from people is what we expect to get. If we expect greatness, we’ll get greatness. If we expect mediocrity, we’ll get mediocrity. Good leaders expect the BEST from themselves and their staff. Your expectations play a huge role in your own success and they also have a profound effect on the

What’s on your Kindle right now? What books are on your shelf? What are you reading? According to a recent list compiled by Amazon, people in Cambridge, MA buy the most books (print and Kindle) per capita. Check out the list. Does your hometown make the cut? Are you a reader? Leaders are readers. Kevin

I’m pretty new to the leadership development world, I’ll admit it. I can’t remember reading any business books at all (although I am sure I must have during college) until I started writing a leadership blog during the spring of 2009. Since that time, though, I have learned quickly: who’s who, the classic books, the

I’m considering the roots of courage this morning. I listened to an NPR Morning Edition interview with Charlayne Hunter-Gault, who was one of the first two black students to attend the University of Georgia fifty years ago.   The story is familiar and reflects the turmoil and bigotry of those times. At one point, Hunter-Gault talks matter-of-factly about