Two Serious Failings of Really Useless Leaders

It’s daunting for business leaders who aspire to improve their leadership to be told to follow the example of Gandhi or Martin Luther King. These people are certainly inspirational, but they’re a tough act to follow in the real world. I’ve therefore been looking at what we can learn from leaders who get it wrong. In researching ‘The Seven Failings of Really Useless Leaders’, I’ve discovered there are thousands of managers who continue to demotivate their colleagues... Read more »

Two Questions to Help You Change Your Leadership Style

Do you want to change your leadership style? Perhaps you’ve discovered something in particular that you want to do, or do differently. And this, of course, is the problem. You want to change something you do, but the folks in the office just aren’t expecting you to change anything. They don’t WANT you to change anything. Also, some people around you may be suspicious or cynical. Not all of them, maybe, but enough to make it tricky to change. So no matter how enthusiastic or motivated... Read more »

Unknown Facts About Leadership Revealed

Imagine a bed of oysters, carpeting the bottom of the clear blue ocean, waiting for some adventurous diver to scythe through the dappled waters and bring to the surface the secret pearls trapped inside. OK it’s a bit fanciful, I admit, but in this article I’ll be highlighting a pearl of wisdom from the ivory towers of the academic world. Now before you get too hung up on the concept of pearls of wisdom from ivory towers, ask the question: is academic research of any value at all? My answer... Read more »

Be The Best Boss You Can Be

Being the person in charge can often be very exhilarating for someone experiencing such a feeling for the first time. Whether you are in charge of a project with a team of company employees that are reporting to you or a single employee that you might be responsible for. Either way we all get a rush from the power suddenly handed to us. But those feelings come while working for someone else. Now imagine the rush you will get when you are the ultimate authority over everyone employed by your company!... Read more »

Company Custom T Shirts: How to Increase Team Spirit at Work

Running a company is somewhat like coaching a team. You want all your employees to thrive as they work together to accomplish goals. You can bring team spirit to their game by giving them company custom T-shirts. Then you can use the shirts to foster good will within the company. The first thing you will do when choosing the custom T-shirts is to select the shirt itself. Color is very important. Certain colors just look bad on clothing, no matter who is wearing them. It is also a good idea... Read more »

The Death of Leadership

Leadership is dead. Or, if not dead, it’s in a coma. Executives all over the world are so overwhelmed with the day-to-day nitty-gritty of their jobs and hampered by the lack of support from the board that they don’t have the time or energy to be good leaders. Instead, executives at every level are constantly fire-fighting and are lurching from crisis to crisis. These are the findings of a survey of executives conducted by myself and my colleague, bestselling business author Jacqueline... Read more »

Three More Reasons Why CEOs Fail

There are two main reasons why chief executives fail to hang on to their jobs: a decline in the company’s finances, and failure to communicate bad news in the best way. But there are many other reasons, too, that can contribute to a CEO’s lack of success. Here we’ll take a look at three that concern key stakeholders in the business. And, if you plan to be a chief executive yourself one day, I’ll offer some strategies that will help you to avoid the pitfalls many others have... Read more »

Leading an Economic Counter-Insurgency

General David Petraeus would be a rock star in the business world today. He is a man that knows how to turn the worst situation into a success relatively quickly. Gen. Petraeus took over command of the Iraq war at the start of 2007, and led what was called “the surge” of troops into Iraq. Most fully expected the General and his strategy to fail miserably. Most were wrong. A “surge” is needed in business to get our economic woes turned around. Think back to January of 2007.... Read more »

The Three Forgotten Reasons Why CEOs Fail

A decline in a company’s financial position may be the fastest way a chief executive can lose his or her job, as the global credit crunch has shown. But it’s easy to forget that several other factors can be just as threatening to the person at the top. Some of them may seem to be out of your control - a campaign by the media, for example, or the unpopularity of your own personal style of leadership. But there are always things you can do. So if you plan to be chief executive one day,... Read more »

The Two Main Reasons Why CEOs Fail

So you’re going to be chief executive one day. But once you’ve got there, how are you going to hang on to your job? Well, there have been many high-profile failures in recent months and it’s possible to learn from those mistakes. There are several reasons why leaders fail and I want you to learn from these failings. I don’t want you to make the same mistakes. Some of the mistakes and failures may seem obvious - keeping an eye on the financial results, for instance, or watching... Read more »