Bob Johansen, a professional Forecaster, has written a book called “Leaders Make the Future: Ten New Leadership Skills for an Uncertain World”. He writes about the VUCA forces operating in the world today, referring to the increasing amount of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, that individuals and organizations are forced to face every day.
I am working with a experienced client who just accepted a leadership position with an organization on the other side of the country. To displace his rumbling sense of guilt at his act of “disloyalty” – did he place his own career interests ahead of his allegiance to his current organization where he has been treated well for the past 13 years? – he is anxiously wondering how to prepare himself for his new role so that he makes and has a strong, positive impact from the start.
Now we are here, and the reality has not at all lived up to its billing. We are in the third day of a nor’easter that has brought high winds and driving rain.
I am reading the novel Parrot and Olivier in America, by Peter Carey. It is based on the travels of a young French nobleman, Alexis de Tocqueville, who visited the United States in the early 1800s and wrote about the young country.
In preparation for an upcoming workshop I am conducting with a Board of Directors, I have been rereading the excellent book Difficult Conversations by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton and Sheila Heen. The need for this workshop arose during the last Board Meeting I facilitated when it became clear that the work of the Board, and consequently of the organization, was hampered by poor communication.
People often adopt a myopic attitude at work. They focus on what they, themselves, need to do, lock themselves into their own universe and are often blissfully unaware of the impact they have on other team members or stakeholders. Communications are scattered via...
A client of mine was told that, in order to be promoted, she needs to demonstrate greater “Executive Presence”, which is the new buzz-word phrase in Leadership Development circles. But, she is puzzled about what exactly that means. It seems to be an elusive quality, and different people have different interpretations and opinions of what it actually is. This is my attempt to come up with a common framework for recognizing and developing “Executive Presence”.
Giving, gathering and receiving feedback is on my mind this week as I have conducted thirty six interviews with managers, peers and direct reports of six of my executive coaching clients, five of whom are ending a six month program and one of whom is at the start of...