Category Archives: Leadership

07/15/19

Adapting Leadership Style

One of the gratifying things about working with CEOs who are developing their skills is to watch how they become stronger and more flexible as their problem solving becomes more sophisticated and situational. This is leadership style and voice.

Each successful leader will try out several leadership styles and a genuine voice to advance that style. We have talked about that before.

What is also important is to know that there are multiple ways to solve problems in the course of translating leadership goals into reality.

There are different methodologies based on the current — instant in time current — situation. These different methodologies require a CEO to think carefully about style and voice.

Allow me to use a flying analogy.

When you learn to fly an airplane, one of the critical skills is landing the plane. Pilots define a “good landing” as one that you can walk away from, but that is grossly oversimplistic.

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06/26/19

Leadership And Leadership Training

Gloomy day in the ATX, but then I am in the ATX, so how gloomy can it really be?

So I have been reading a book — 40 pages in, an easy read — by Jerry Collonna called: Reboot – Leadership and the Art of Growing Up.

Jerry is one of those Internet presences one meets and grows fond of. There is wisdom in his writing and there is a good heart in his chest. He comes to the issue of leadership primarily from the perspective of CEO coaching and has a huge following.

He is an emotional, Zen, Buddhist type of guy who will cry at the drop of a hat. I don’t see him doing much hunting or skydiving, but he is a mensch.

I recommend the book as a body of work that one should read, but I am not a fan of the emotional style and desperate nature of how he tells his story.

It is HIS story. It is not my story. It is a good story and it should be in the institutional memory of anybody who is serious about the leadership gig.

Go read the book, but when you do, I want you to know a few other things at the same time.

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02/5/19

The Curious Case of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam

Hello, dear readers. It is a gray, warm (70F) day in the ATX. Today, I speak to you of the curious case of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam.

If you don’t know who Governor Ralph Northam is, then you may stop reading right now, go to Sbux and contemplate the prospect of Howard Schultz as our next President.

Image result for images ralph northam

If you are acquainted with the subject, then read on. [BTW, you are looking very sharp today. Lost weight?]

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10/23/17

Leadership Changes — CEO Shoptalk

Leadership changes can effect policy which can alter outcomes. Leadership changes are critical to outcomes.

Big Red Car here on a glorious Texas, Austin By God Texas, day. Ahh, on Earth as it is in Texas!

One of the easiest ways to change outcomes is to change leadership. I say this in the context of business leadership (startups, in particular), but the example I will use has to do with the Middle East and ISIS. Hello, America!

If you have been following the unending war in Iraq and Syria, you will note several interesting things.

ISIS is kaput and it is only a matter of time before its leadership is dead, and its footprints disappear.

Let’s explore how this happened.

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04/26/17

Leadership Style — CEO Shop Talk

Leadership style or cattle today? Hmmm, which one?

Big Red Car here on one of those Texas days that makes you want to get on a horse and herd cattle up the trail, cross the Red River into the Indian Territory, and kick up your heels at a dance hall in Abilene, Kansas.

IMG_1658

Listen, Big Red Car, I am not going to Abilene, Kansas. I like it right here. Go away, Big Red Car. Notice the lovely earrings. Cattle are controlled by numbers and they are assets on the hoof.

Maybe not.

OK, so I wrote a blog post a while ago about finding your “authentic” leadership style. I was talking to some CEOs (me, the Big Red Car, not that other guy, The Boss) and we got on the subject of leadership style. Everybody got hung up on the word “authentic.” Haha, it was funny.

Finding Your Authentic Leadership Style <<< read this

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05/27/16

Hiroshima, President Obama, Nuclear Hypocrisy

Hiroshima.

Big Red Car here on a nice but cloudy ATX day. Going to rain, y’all. Getting into the Memorial Day flood cycle. Flash flood warning last night. Lakes more than fill and flooding the marina parking lots. Lots of water.

So, the President is in Hiroshima becoming the first sitting US President to visit Hiroshima whereat the United States unleashed the power of a new weapon, a nuclear bomb called “Little Boy” which was delivered by a B-29 bomber on 6 August 1945.

Little Boy bomb

Little Boy nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, on 6 August 1945, killing an estimated 145,000 civilians

On 15 August 1945, the Japanese surrendered entering into a formal surrender on the USS Missouri (one of the refloated ships sunk at Pearl Harbor by the Japs) on 2 September 1945.

The war the Japs started was finally over.

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07/22/15

Leadership & Management — One More Time!

Big Red Car here. Ahh, you know the shtick by now — On Earth as it is in Texas!

Every so often, we find ourselves being drawn into a discussion that is endless.

One such discussion is the ramifications of leadership and management for the startup and small business. It is a continuous discussion.

Note that the Big Red Car did not say leadership “versus” management because they are not in a contest with each other. Continue reading →

05/13/15

Harnessing Emotions — Leadership

Big Red Car here in the tropical rain forest known as Austin by God Texas.

It’s been raining a little here. Not that we don’t need it; we do. If we did not have such an arid climate, we would not be complaining but we are not really used to this much rain; so we complain.

Shame on us.

In life, we are propelled ever forward by our emotions — driven by the slings, arrows, slights, insults that are visited upon us and which tempt us to anger. Anger can be very destructive. How are you harnessing emotions?

Listen carefully — this is a “good” thing. Not a GOOD thing, a “good” thing. Continue reading →