Thought-Provoking Ideas from “A Failure of Nerve” by Edwin Friedman

I recently read one of the most thought-provoking books on leadership that I have ever read. It is titled, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix, written by Edwin Friedman. In this article, I want to share some of these thought-provoking ideas. What the book is about (Page 19) “[This […]
The Impact of Vertical Development on Organizations

A few weeks ago, I surveyed my newsletter subscribers and asked them what they would like to see me write about. A common theme from the responses was that they wanted to learn more about my business and the impact that it is having on the leaders and organizations that I work with. So, over […]
The Impact of Vertical Development on Individual Leaders

A few weeks ago, I surveyed my newsletter subscribers and asked them what they would like to see me write about. A common theme from the responses was that they wanted to learn more about my business and the impact that it is having on the leaders and organizations that I work with. So, over […]
The Three Most Common Leadership Issues of Executives

As I have worked with and coached hundreds of executives across dozens of organizations and executive teams, patterns have arisen. One set of patterns involves three common leadership issues that limit the effectiveness of executives and the organizations they lead and serve. In fact, just this week, I presented these three common leadership issues to […]
The Biggest Issue with Traditional Leadership: The Dark Side of Mind 2.0

Adult development research indicates that there is a dominant type of leadership today. Specifically, this research reveals that 85% of leaders operate from a Mind 2.0 vertical altitude. When leaders operate from a Mind 2.0 vertical altitude, their bodies are internally wired to advance, stand out, and get ahead. Their primary motive is to hit […]
How to Get Leaders from Point A to Point B

To me, the first and most primary lesson of leadership is: To be an effective leader, we have to become someone others want to follow. Unfortunately, no leader or person is perfect. We all have room to become more of someone that others want to follow. Consider where you currently are or where the leaders […]
Elevating Your Dynamism as a Leader: An Instrument Analogy

One of the biggest challenges facing leaders right now is that over the last several years, complexity and tumultuousness have skyrocketed, exceeding leaders’ development and their own complexity and ability to navigate the tumultuous environment they are facing. I call this “The Leadership Deficit.” And, every organization that I have worked with a struggling with […]
The Evolution of a Leader: What are the Signs and Signals of Our State of Evolution?

Are you fully evolved? Of course not. We can always evolve as a person, leader, employee, parent, or spouse. And, to the degree we evolve is the degree that we add value to those that we associate with. Another way to look at this is: If we fail to evolve, We are putting a cap […]
Assessing and Elevating the Sophistication of Your Leadership Team

In my experience of working with dozens of leadership teams, I have observed the following: Every leadership team operates at a different level of sophistication ranging from low to high Most (if not all) leadership teams believe that they are more sophisticated than they really are An organization’s growth and success are largely determined by […]
Do You Lead with Control or Do You Lead with Context?

On of the best leadership books that I have read is No Rules Rules by Reed Hoffman (Netflix CEO) and Erin Meyer. The book is about how Reed Hoffman has created a high-performance culture and organization (Note: the examples and figures in the post either come from or are inspired by No Rules Rules). In […]