Monday Morning Mojo

It takes a lot of hard work to hit the bullseye, doesn’t it? Seemingly endless preparation. Grit. Practice. Maturity. Talent (talent? how did that get in there? Does talent take hard work?). Backbone. Elbow grease. Tenacity. Perserverance. Resolve. Fortitude. Nerve. Steel. It seems it takes a lot of those things that drain you just thinking

Pressure can come from a variety of sources both planned (meeting with VIP stakeholder), and unplanned (natural or manmade disaster). For leaders, high-stress situations are inevitable. Many rise to the occasion, channeling energy to serve their performance. Your needs will vary depending on your circumstances and intents. Here are six guidelines: 1. Be proactive rather

Harvard Business School professor John Kotter is a world-class authority on change leadership, perhaps best known for his eight-step model for leading successful change. His vision is, Millions Leading, Billions Benefiting. His body of work, which provides extensive help to those who lead change, matches his farsighted, noble intentions. Each of his eighteen books makes

The only way to have a new idea catch fire is to introduce it into the world in ways that enable as many people as possible to begin using it for their advantage. That’s when exponential uptake occurs. You see, we are constantly generating the future through interaction with unforeseen events and circumstances. This applies

Philip Anschutz, the American businessman with an estimated net worth of $7 billion, started in the oil business drilling his own wells. His first efforts in the 60s were unsuccessful, turning up one dry hole after another. When he finally hit oil, everything looked great for a day… Then a crisis followed which he called

Things are changing so fast today there are three worlds in simultaneous transition: 1. Your organization’s world Market conditions shift constantly and sometimes dramatically. Revenue streams and profit margins sometimes require compensation and adjustment in real time. Greater speed and responsiveness to opportunity is a significant asset. Talent acquisition and development is becoming critical due

Here in Washington, DC, just two blocks north of the White House I co-hosted a two-day workshop with Steve Denning last Thursday and Friday, Revolutionizing the World of Work. The event was sold out with participants from Goddard Space Flight Center, Deloitte, Johnson & Johnson, American University, Comcast, Homeland Security, Kaiser Permanente, and others. We

Why does the conductor yell, “All aboard?” Because it doesn’t really matter where the train is going if the passengers are not on the train! Are you doing what it takes to help your people get on board? Whether you are issuing a change in direction or just expecting everyone to have strategic clarity so

There are many ways to get people involved besides coercion, putting someone in a tight spot, or otherwise using negative reinforcement. The most powerful kind of participation is that which generates enthusiasm and spreads of its own accord. At the core, with or without a mandate, voluntary involvement is necessary for the very best results.

What does it mean when a world-class university that is a globally recognized leader in innovation chooses a director who has not completed his college degree? It means true leadership exceeds academic rank, plain and simple. The MIT Media Lab has taken the bold move, announced today, to appoint Joichi Ito as its fourth director.