CEO Non-Negotiable #2
(This is the second in a series of what I call “The 3 CEO Non-Negotiables” — responsibilities that lie squarely with the leader at the top. If you are not a CEO, but aspire to be, this is for you as well.) Congratulations to my friends Geoff Ramsey and Terry Chabrowe, co-founders of NYC-based eMarketer, […]
CEO Non-Negotiable #1
In the past few days, “vision” has been a repeat theme in my conversations with top leaders. 1) I heard board members encouraging a CEO to get out of the weeds and be more visionary. 2) A President discussed a big vision he had for his company, but wondered aloud “will they laugh at me?” […]
Conflict? Build Bridges, Not Walls
One of the top issues that leaders discuss with me is conflict with others at work. Perhaps: • one person dominates weekly meetings with his opinion. • the team is at odds about next steps on an important decision. • a member of the team consistently misses deadlines. • half the team wants to study […]
Parenting Your New Hire
If you are part of an organization that is growing or experiencing change, odds are you are bringing in, or promoting, new leaders to help with that growth and change. In my observation, many otherwise highly effective leaders struggle to onboard their new hire in a win-win-win for the two of them and the company. […]
Spieth’s Incredible Comeback
Leaders blow it—sometimes to the point of embarrassing themselves. Some examples of leadership “fails” I’ve either witnessed or heard about: • A CEO loses his temper and shouts at a colleague in the middle of a nice dinner at an upscale restaurant with spouses at the table. • A Sales VP, embarrassed by poor quarterly […]
When Leaders Get Stuck
Last week, a leader got on the phone and immediately told me about a very difficult conversation he needed to have with his boss. He had been working on this a lot before we talked. “Rob, I don’t know what to do.” He was stuck. And he was feeling both frustrated and vulnerable. Stuck doesn’t […]
Coaching Millennials To Lead
Last year’s comedy, The Intern, features Robert De Niro as a retiree who can’t stay retired. He decides to return to the workplace as a “senior” intern, assisting a start-up CEO, played by Anne Hathaway. Here’s a great clip from the film that portrays the millennial Hathaway seeking assurance from De Niro as she collects […]
How to Lead Millennials
I don’t know if you have noticed this, but it seems that I see the term “millennials” in at least one headline every day. I’ve discovered the reason. The Pew Research Forum reports this group now makes up the largest part of the population—even more than us baby boomers. If you care about who is […]
How I Owned 4 Tanks & Still Slept Well at Night
It was day three of my first real leadership job. I was a young 2nd lieutenant who had just been assigned to take over 3rd Platoon, Charlie Company, 3rd of the 63rd Armor Battalion, in what was then West Germany. “Lieutenant McKinnon, you need to go and sign for your tanks,” my company commander directed […]
Where Leaders Look
After meeting with one of my new CEOs for a couple of months, I began to notice a consistent pattern to our conversations. Most of the time, the CEO brought up his problem-of-the-day for us to discuss: how to deal with a difficult employee, how to respond to the threat of losing a major customer, […]