“Leadership is the art of making difficult judgments in the face of uncertainty, and it is about shaping a path for others to follow.” Prof. Julian Birkinshaw, London Business School. Professor Birkinshaw provides 7 lessons from the political turmoil of Brexit – about how to fail, and occasionally how to succeed as a leader. Business … Read more
I’ve just added another great Commencement speech to my youtube playlist: Commencement Speeches Emmanuel Faber gave the commencement address at HEC this year, 2016. The first half is in french, the last in english. Emmanuel tells a powerful personal story, describes 3 diseases, and asks us a question… This is a powerful speech. You’ve got to watch … Read more
Do you want to start something? Do you want to grow something? Do you want to make the world a better place? Rosabeth Moss Kanter is a Harvard Professor that has spent her life looking at what it takes for leaders to get things done. 6 Keys to Leading Positive Change Show up – if … Read more
What is charisma? Charisma means “special gift” in Greek. It is something that allows some people to magnetically attract others to them and their projects. Is it innate or can it be learnt? According to John Antonakis, Marika Fenley and Sue Liechti in the Harvard Business Review June 2012 article “Learning Charisma”, it is learnt. How to Learn … Read more
Student: “When I speak, people don’t listen. Why is that?” Teacher: “It depends…” It always depends… There are many possible reasons that people don’t engage with you, don’t care about what you are going to say, don’t pay attention. Rarely does anyone come to me and say “I need help. I am boring.” However, this condition is … Read more
The mission of the IESE Business School, where I teach about 1,000 EMBA, MBA and Senior Management participants each year, is to “develop leaders who aspire to have a deep, lasting and positive impact on people, firms and society” and I have spent a lot of the last 13 years attempting to find a way to … Read more
I came across a TEDx talk today by Drew Dudley about Leadership. It is called “Creating cultures of leadership”. He explains his first ever class on leadership. After the class, a participant came up and said “I thought I understood leadership, but now I don’t. Could you explain exactly what you mean by leadership?” He could … Read more
This poem was shared by Warren Rustand during the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation Leadership Academy 2016 course held in Washington last year. It was part of his description of why he spends so much time teaching. Update January 2021: Warren Rustand has published a book and I would recommend to any person who wishes to lead a … Read more
Here’s a simple checklist for building a momentum for change in your organisation. Very Important: Do Not Jump to “Go” without fully completing each previous stage. Most change fails because the leader rushes to action before having done the work to create the conditions for success. Checklist for Change Further Resources on Leading Change Kotter’s … Read more
An effective statement of mission should be short, sharp and direct. It should fit on a t-shirt. Not a font 8 squeeze, but a legible font. Every person who is involved should be able to articulate how their contribution adds to that mission. If not, then you don’t have a mission. You have a hopeful … Read more