The news came in an email from my brother Mike on Monday afternoon, July 16. Stephen Covey, 79, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, had died earlier in the day. The news left a little hole in my heart. I had never met Covey. But I felt I knew him from reading several of his books &...

Read More >

In our Encounters, we often summarize the history of leadership in two minutes or less. In those 120 seconds, we break it down into four stages: C1: Compliance – This is how leaders generally led from the dawn of humanity until the 1920s. In a C1 leadership context, the primary ta...

Read More >

Recently I was reading an article in which the author noted “few of us are natural-born leaders,” and so she offered five basic tips to help new leaders get on the right track – and stay there.  It struck me that not only were all of her tips sound, but they also affirmed o...

Read More >

Engagement is often regarded as the silver bullet in individual and organizational performance, whether we are talking about families, small office teams, government staffs or international businesses.  If people aren’t engaged in what they are doing — whether it’s homework...

Read More >

When we talk about S3 Jesus-like Leadership, I often make the point that the very best examples of leadership I see are not in the corporate or nonprofit worlds, but in good families. The reason for that is easy to explain: parents generally love their children more than bosses love their emplo...

Read More >

Popular leadership literature and a host of studies make the point that trust is an important consideration in effective leadership. Leaders who prove themselves trustworthy are much more effective in achieving their missions than are leaders who don’t inspire or who actually undermine trust i...

Read More >

When we think and speak of the power to lead, we often focus on what is known as “formal power” or “positional power.”  There’s no doubt that kind of power plays a defining role in many of our relationships, especially those at work. But it’s also true tha...

Read More >

“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant and a debtor.”- Max DePree If that sounds like “soft-headed” thinking on the part of some head-in-the clouds theorist, think again...

Read More >

Sunday we celebrate Pentecost — when the Holy Spirit descends on the apostles, beginning their public ministry and thus marking the beginning of the church. It is said to be the second most important day in the church liturgical calendar. And it is an especially important feast for all of thos...

Read More >

“The leader’s style pulls ... (and) a pull style of influence works by attracting and energizing people to an exciting vision of the future. It motivates by identification, rather than through rewards and punishments.” - Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus  In the non-profit worl...

Read More >