Leadership – The Musings of the Big Red Car

CEO Shoptalk: Leadership

Big Red Car — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 15:31:08 +0000

Leadership at the startup and small company levels is typically something the founder/CEO is doing for the first time in her existence. She is also likely taking the trash out, but this is the nature of small business. [Pro tip: Relish the chaos and novelty of this experience. Bask in the chaos and learning. Write […]

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Leadership Revisited — You Can Do This

Big Red Car — Tue, 25 Aug 2020 15:25:44 +0000

This blog post is a revisit of something I wrote some time ago. It was one of the most heavily trafficked posts I have ever written though not at the time I wrote it. I have revised some things. I have been a CEO for 33 years, before that an Army officer for five years, […]

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CEO Shoptalk — Fear v Fearful

Big Red Car — Sun, 10 May 2020 19:56:09 +0000

A leader is always operating on the edge. Talking to you: entrepreneurs, founders, CEOs, C-suite denizens, departmental leaders, and students of leadership. When I was in those positions, I never thought it was lonely at the top, but when people say it is — this is what they are talking about. Being alone with your […]

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Nancy Pelosi’s Side — Let Them Eat Ice Cream

Big Red Car — Fri, 24 Apr 2020 17:02:58 +0000

I’m considering things great and small when my phone rings. I do not recognize the number, but the ring itself feels like a political survey, so I answer. “Stand by for the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi,” the voice says. It sounds eerily like the Emperor in Star Wars. So, I wait. I wait. […]

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No Perfect Leaders

Big Red Car — Sun, 22 Mar 2020 21:28:10 +0000

I have been in the leadership business since I was a cadet at Virginia Military Institute in 1969. As an Army officer, we were not converted into “wartime” CEOs, our constant context was war. That was what we were trained to do. It is like nails on a blackboard when I hear venture capitalists describe […]

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Evolving Leadership Style

Big Red Car — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 18:07:17 +0000

Leadership is one of those subjects that ebbs and flows in cycle with the startup and venture capital buzz. It was quite fashionable to discuss a few years ago, today, not so much. It is, however, a very important issue to understand. I want to discuss three different specific elements of evolving leadership. 1. The […]

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Adapting Leadership Style

Big Red Car — Mon, 15 Jul 2019 14:38:53 +0000

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 […]

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Leadership And Leadership Training

Big Red Car — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 15:10:54 +0000

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 […]

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The Curious Case of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam

Big Red Car — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 17:12:30 +0000

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 […]

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Leadership Changes — CEO Shoptalk

Big Red Car — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 17:56:32 +0000

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 […]

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