Leadership is Like the Flying Trapeze
Leadership is like being on the trapeze. For one thing, it can be helpful to have a safety net that can hold you. There will be times when your reach exceeds your grasp, and a safety net can make a real difference. It is important to try new approaches and explore new possibilities. A safety ...
Guest Post: Leadership is Climbing the Mountain
Matthew Cavanaugh is a friend of mine. I met him first through his wife, Laura Knowles Cavanaugh. Matthew enjoys doing many things I do, only in different places. He walks up the sides of mountains, while I usually walk on sidewalks. He goes out into nature to reflect on leadership and depth in nature, while ...
Leadership is Refreshing
We are proud of the ways our leadership drains us. We have such important responsibilities, we are the indispensable piece that holds everything together, without us everything would fall apart. If we were to take a vacation, or even a break, they might never recover. Yet, the leaders who inspire me are refreshing. It is ...
Leadership is Learning to Dance
Leadership is learning to dance. Leaders develop a sense of the rhythms of life. They get all the partners making the right moves at the right time, choreographing controlled beauty. They glide across the floor, or they fly through the air, hands and feet working together to produce athletic artistry. Some people lead like ballet, with ...
Leading Yourself First
Leading is personal. Yes, leadership is about bringing out the best in people and helping them work together to achieve common goals. But leading is even more personal than that. Leading is personal to the leader. Each person leads uniquely. You cannot become a leader by reading a book or just doing what someone else ...
Focus Takes My Breath Away
There are times when I am so focused that I forget to breathe. I am talking, and I keep pushing until I run out of air. I am writing or thinking, and I realize that need to stand up, walk around and take a deep breath. Focus can be very helpful to me. I remember ...
Leadership Opens Windows to Opportunity
Leadership is like spring. Leaders cultivate, plant, and encourage growth. Leaders plow new ground. Leadership melts the ice and snow that have accumulated and throws off the weight of what we have carried around all winter. The leaders who inspire me open windows and let in fresh air and new light. Our organizations, and our ...
Focusing Our Energy
Maybe it is because I was walking through the campus of CalTech, near the home of the Einstein Papers Project. Physicists and healers, mystics and engineers: everyone tells us that everything is energy. Mass can be converted into energy and energy into mass. Energy makes life possible, and our bodies create energy. We are surrounded ...
Guest Post: Leadership is Creative
Alli Polin is one of the most creative friends I have. She is also an authentic and insightful leader, which makes her very qualified to write about creativity in leadership. I thought it could only help me be more creative if Alli would agree to trade guest posts with me about creative leadership. Read both ...
Focus: Latest Research
I am conducting longitudinal research on the topic of focus, and your cooperation would be very helpful. My methodology is not complicated. First, I walk as often as I can. I take quite few walks in Southern California, but my research is not limited geographically. I developed my initial protocols in the Midwest. As I ...
