A favorite musical of mine is The Music Man. A song in The Music Man includes this line—“where is the good in goodbye?” Surely it’s true that in leadership knowing when to say goodbye, when to call it quits and move on, is one of the toughest decisions you’ll ever have to make. Tough. I’m drawn to this point after the recent primary election defeat of Richard Lugar. His experience ought to give … [Read more...]
May 10, 2012 by
May 9, 2012 by
We in Indianapolis have had somewhat the same thing happen to two major local figures with national reputations. Both Richard Lugar and Peyton Manning are leaving the positions where they gained national prestige and local reverence. Let's take a moment and see what this linkage of Lugar and Manning tells us about succession, leaving, and key leaders. First, Lugar could learn from Manning. By now … [Read more...]
May 8, 2012 by
No one ever tells you about the problem of imperfection in leadership. The right thing isn't always done; in fact, the wrong thing may be done nearly as often as not. Requests for help aren't forthcoming, calls for moving in a particular direction go unheeded, and the commonsense courtesies aren't extended. Imperfection is as natural to leadership as breathing is to living. Read the private … [Read more...]
May 8, 2012 by
Things have happened lately for you in perhaps the last few years. These things may form a pattern, a trend. Combining the collection of similar points or elements into a pattern and then combining that pattern with a concentrated flow of time produces, in my lexicon, velocity. Your life, Your River, may have a velocity to it in recent times. There has emerged a natural power and momentum that … [Read more...]
May 7, 2012 by
You don't often realize the odd ways that globalization can pop up. You might think of it in terms of multi-national corporations, financial markets, celebrity and pop culture, fashion, or maybe sports. Or perhaps you think of global communications via twitter and all the rest. But let me give you another example, one I found buried deep in a Wall Street Journal article over the weekend. The New … [Read more...]
April 24, 2012 by
If time had stopped for Captain Chesley Sullenberger on the day before the emergency landing in the Hudson River, you might have noticed something that's gotten lost in the all the hoopla of this amazing event. Sullenberger was quite disgruntled with the airline industry. Corporate restructuring, cut-backs, and down-sizing had all affected the quality of piloting, in his view. He opposed many of … [Read more...]
April 22, 2012 by
I've written this piece for The Commonplace Book, but I think it's important enough to insert here, too. Think of a big event in your life, something that you believe has left a deep impression on you since it happened. Got it? OK, I’d like you to go with me for the next minute of so. Keep your chosen event in the front of your mind. How much time has passed since the event occurred? Do you … [Read more...]
March 13, 2012 by
Continuences is my new word for the day. I made it up. I did so because I think we need it to reflect a very important part of change, one that we forget at our peril. Continuences are those things that continue, that remain in force or in play. They are perhaps not quite constants; I think of a constant as something that nearly never changes, like the rocks or, maybe, human behavior and human … [Read more...]
