Leadership: You Have to Go First. I love this little Dilbert storyline from Scott Adams: Employee: “I find it rather demotivating that you never praise me for a job well done.” Boss: “You’ve never done a job well.” Employee: “That’s because I’m demotivated.” Boss: “You have to go first.” Employee: “Wouldn’t that make me the … Read more
“But, is this normal?” Why am I so fixated by normal? What about optimal? Wouldn’t optimal be a better aim? Is my life normal? Some of it, yes. Some of it, no. But it adds no direction to my journey to the future me. Is my life optimal? Is my running posture optimal? Is my … Read more
At the end of every course I teach at IESE Business School, all participants give extensive feedback on their experience of the course, the facilities… and on my role as a teacher. When the summarized feedback reaches me a couple of weeks later, I open the pdf in a state of nervous tension. I am preparing … Read more
I am in Kona, on the west coast of the big island of the Hawaiian islands. I am in Hawaii for a workshop later this week. 10 entrepreneurs who are part of the global leadership of Entrepreneurs’ Organisation are meeting to pull together our ideas on how we can accelerate and deeper the teaching of … Read more
I have recently finished teaching modules on the Global Executive MBA (GEMBA) and on the Develop Your Communication Skills (DYC) Short Focussed Program here at IESE in Barcelona. The global diversity of participants really struck me. IESE has become a truly global experience – both in the MBA program, and in the variety of Executive … Read more
The Visionary Leader In times of crisis, we prefer Visionary Leaders. Hope is a strong motivator to current action when the situation is difficult. In the years leading up to 2008, the USA was stuck in two protracted wars, and an economic crisis sparked by the subprime lending collapse. In this context of uncertainty, the … Read more
Reid Hoffman says it took him 15 years after graduating from Stanford to figure out what he wanted to do with his career. Hoffman eventually founded LinkedIn, a $19 billion public company. On graduation, he thought he would become an academic. Then he started some companies. Several failed… then he created LinkedIn. It didn’t fail … Read more
The Webinar: This is the recording of the IESE Develop Your Communication Skills webinar we ran on 13th April 2013. It is here on the IESE Business School YouTube channel. Storify Summary of the Webinar via Twitter Hashtag: #iesewebinar Communication Skills Webinar with Prof. Conor Neill http://t.co/rzT7nCPaVB #storify #iesewebinar #communication — IESE Business School (@iesebschool) … Read more
7 Challenges of Weak Communciators These are 7 challenges that can be overcome if you take the time to improve your communication skills. Some have very quick fixes, others require considerable practice to turn into strengths. I lose people’s attention easily People agree, but then do nothing People avoid my phone calls (… at least … Read more
Who are your “Passive Mentors”? Mentors make a big difference in my life. There are 2 types of mentor: Active and Passive mentors. Active mentors are those that you meet in person, interact with and get to know. Passive mentors are those that you learn from without them knowing. Book authors are one of the … Read more