Poise is a key attribute for leaders. A calm approach to decision-making leads to success in the crisis environment. At the ripe old age of 9 or 10 years old, I recall receiving some salient advice on leadership during crisis from my favorite cartoon at the time.   A character stated, “The less time you have, the more you have to use it wisely.” It’s amazing what stays with you, but this statement has drifted in my mindscape all of these years. Crisis management is not about

As I watched my college Alma mater leave it all on the field this past weekend, as they always do, I am reminded of my days in the leadership crucible which was my college experience.  I decided very early that I wanted to attend one of the U.S. Service Academies.  I was one of the lucky ones who saw my dream become a reality.  Averaging about a 6% acceptance rate for today’s college bound seniors,  I recognize I would likely not be admitted today due to the sheer competitive

Attitude is everything.  There, I said it.  There are few ingredients as important to a successful professional life as your individual attitude. Life can be challenging and work is hard enough without bringing a poor attitude to the situation.  There are numerous essential characteristics to being a good leader.  I hope to cover most of them during the course of my blogging career, but few are as important as the attitude you take into any given situation.  I have always bel

Some years ago I had the pleasure of joining a team of professionals engaged in an iterative process meant to highlight accomplishments and make leaders aware of shortcomings. It was one of the best years of professional growth in my life. I was thrust into a group of highly competitive professionals and challenged nearly every day. When you find yourself in such an environment you have exactly two options – sink or swim.  The big take away in any internal consulting process

I have been involved in a few recent discussions concerning integration and productivity.  The challenge is always the same.  How do we better integrate our various business practices in an effort to increase our productivity and effectiveness?  I say the challenge is always the same because at the end of the day everything seems to be about increased productivity – a theme I’ve covered in previous blogs.  How do we take a new look at the accepted practices which very well ma

We are on the cusp of a new season in the NFL. In the next two weeks and through early February the weekends of many American households will be dominated by gameplay from Thursday evenings through Monday night.  You could spend a whole book on the love of this game and what attracts people to its visual excitement, strategy, statistics and off-field stories. One of the aspects I find deeply interesting is the clear definition of roles and responsibilities. Each of the 32 tea