Of Saints, Lamas, and Servant Leadership
Your ears perk up when a speaker who grew a company from 900 employees to 20,000 quotes a Catholic saint and a Buddhist lama in a talk about leadership.Santo "Sandy" Costa is the retired president and...
View ArticleBeing Mindful of a Mindfulness Class
Last night I delivered a talk on “The Mindful Way of Working” for the first time, sort of. I qualify the statement because I have guided people in meditation and mindfulness for a few years now, and...
View ArticleBeware the Roaming Expert
A used college textbook I picked up at the unfortunate end-of-life sale of a Durham, N.C., bookstore has been feeding me some interesting insights into the book's namesake, Human Motivation...
View ArticleThe Ethics of Being a Real "Team Player"
"Be a team player" is one of the most abused phrases in business. Most of the time, what it really means is, "Shut up and go along with everyone." You know: the way people at Enron and Lehman Brothers...
View ArticleThe Science of Agile Teamwork
The benefits of empowered teamwork are one subset of the benefits of Agile software development. Having served as a project manager in an Agile company, I have seen this firsthand, but a talk by an...
View ArticleDeath and Value-Driven Success
"We're all going to die!" This was how Ryan Allis, CEO of iContact, started his presentation at a recent Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce event this week. He credited another speaker for the line,...
View ArticleA Good Speech Goes to Pot
It happened again.I attended a speech by a consultant with a current Amazon bestseller, who has consulted with an impressive roster of companies and government agencies. Most of what she had to say was...
View ArticleTo Change Behaviors, Change the Environment
One line would have been worth the price of admission, if the speech hadn’t been free. Referring to bad behaviors we find ourselves tempted to do, Dr. Dan Ariely said: “The biggest lesson from...
View ArticleGeeky Fandom Pays Off with How to Raise Your Leader Ratings
I admit it. I gushed. I said those stereotypical words, "I'm a big fan."Rock god? Movie star? No. I'm a team science geek. I said them to Jack Zenger, co-author of The Extraordinary Leader. In a...
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