Thank you to Philly2Philly.com
for naming me Philly’s Phinest:
http://www.philly2philly.com/node/4779

One Question Poll (click on question to reply):
Do you think we’ve made any progress with managing the moral crisis that underlies our financial problems?

As summer draws down, I feel the seasonal pull to:

work on nesting stuff as my 2 sons transition back to school
appreciate every last second of not having my feet bound by shoes
enjoy every possible moment at my very sweet swim club
and do the behind-the-scenes professional work so I can hit the ground running in [...]

Decision-making is about discernment. Tools are great but there’s no inherent wisdom in most of the decision-making tools out there. If you don’t have the discernment to interpret the results and the discernment to ask the right questions, even clear deciders like coin tosses can lead you astray.
As a coach and consultant working with corporate, [...]

From Wharton School’s Knowledge Roundtable
Published: August 18, 2010 in Knowledge@Wharton
The four fellows at the Knowledge@Wharton roundtable included Ian Rogan, Ramya Krishnaswamy, Carl Björkman and Sandilya Vadapalli. An edited version of the conversation follows.
Knowledge@Wharton: How has the nature of leadership changed in recent years, and what are the new complexities that characterize leadership today?
Rogan: I [...]

Values-driven leaders don’t fall into these traps because their footing is on much more stable ground than the power-mongers referred to by this Wall Street Journal article. Coaches are often called in to reign in obnoxious leaders but when coaching starts before leaders fall into this kind of trap, they have a better understanding of [...]

“Control is not leadership; management is not leadership; leadership is leadership. If you seek to lead, invest at least 50% of your time in leading yourself—your own purpose, ethics, principles, motivation, conduct. Invest at least 20% leading those with authority over you and 15% leading your peers.” [...]

Think coaching is a luxury? An add on? Something only for dysfunctional workers and organizations?
Think again because the data shows the opposite – coaching pays the highest return on investment when it’s used consistently at the leaderful edge, the way Olympians use their coaches. Coaching to problem solve pays off well, according to the studies [...]

I see lots of organizations because I coach leaders. In my philosophy of leadership, strategic leadership is more yin – more visionary, more partnership-oriented,  requires blue-sky thinking, listening, staying in dialgo…. Operational leadership is more yang – more goals-driven, more hard data oriented, practical, and, usually, but not necessarily, more hierarchical. Good leadership is about [...]

If you’re sincere, praise is effective.
If you’re insincere, it’s manipulative.
Zig Ziglar