To get support for your big idea, you have to become adept at pitching every idea. Good leaders know how to pitch. They do it naturally and easily. But this isn’t a skill anyone’s really born with, it takes some personal development. Why invest in becoming good at pitching? You gain more...
I have written a great deal about the all-important topic of leadership in Corporate America, specifically claiming that we are doing our companies and their people an injustice by having predominantly male senior management. In general, men and women have different leadership strengths. Some...
The cohort of leaders who will reclaim leadership to achieve great things in the world won't succeed out of idealism, an extreme sense of perfection or personal heroism. We will succeed because we see ourselves and the world for what is and because we master the ability to motivate groups we lead...
Study: Five Myths about Women in Combat (Washington Post, 2011, Blair) Finding: Five common myths surrounding women and their leadership abilities in the military and in combat situations are unfounded and women are capable of serving in the same capacity as their male counterparts in all areas of...
In the eighties, women flooded the male-dominated workplace and had to prove themselves man enough for the job. In order to succeed, they had to play the game and often felt they had to copy men's behavior. Women even dressed the part with padded shoulders, pant suits, certain kind of haircut, a...
Anne-Marie Slaughter’s article in the Atlantic, Why Women Can’t Have it All, has reignited crucial issues of advancement and balance that women continue to face in the workplace. As a male executive in business for over forty years, I have worked with many women who have consistently performed at...
Women are good for business. Studies have made it clear that women are excellent leaders, creating “The Woman Effect” to produce meaningful, measurable and often dramatically improved results for companies that sustain a relative gender balance in their leadership team. But it’s important to...
Recently, I have written several articles about our need for more women in key leadership roles. I assert that our companies and organizational cultures could benefit from women’s great strengths, e.g., their willingness to ask questions, to listen to understand and learn, to be inclusive in...
The higher you go, the harder it is to advance because you’re in more competitive territory. You have to stand out and offer something unique. Your best leadership asset at the top is your authentic leadership style — the one that gives you energy instead of draining you and the one that makes you...
Study: MT/Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM)'s Index of Leadership Trust (FreshMinds Consultants, 2010) Finding: Female CEO's are gaining trust and proving competent, and it isn't because they're more empathetic, but likely because they are more meticulous in their methodologies....
