What Exactly Is Presence? Presence is letting the most powerful version of yourself shine through. I like to cite the renowned leadership expert Sylvia Ann Hewlett, who defines “presence” as a combination of gravitas, communication, and appearance. Together, these elements form an impression of trustworthiness, competence, and authenticity. Gravitas is signaling that you have the […]
In today’s complex business world, change is hard. Companies venturing through major culture shifts, mergers or other forms of change often struggle to make it to the end. The idea that people hate change is a phenomenon that is taught, coached and wrestled with in many ways, shapes, and forms. Regardless of your mindset about […]
Company culture. It’s a buzzword thrown around in boardrooms and plastered across job postings. But what exactly is it, and how do you achieve it? There seems to be a common misconception: culture is something you build, a foundation laid from scratch. But a thriving company culture is more akin to a garden – something […]
A few years ago I wrote a piece contrasting the “cool breeze” and the “fog machine”, whimsically (at least my attempt at whimsy) to illustrate extreme possibilities in the way a leader can show up at work. I think It’s time to delve deeper into that idea (minus the whimsy part). While the “Cool Breeze” […]
Many years ago, a business coach and mentor I knew named Gerry Fusco introduced me to a phrase he invented. Return on invested time (ROIT). As business owners and leaders, we know about ROI, ROE, EBITDA, SDE, etc. But have you ever spent any waking hours measuring ROIT? We make plans, build budgets, measure KPIs, […]
Leaders at all levels share some common responsibilities. It doesn’t matter whether you are the CEO of a Fortune 500 or the owner of a small shop in the local town. You have some common threads that weave the fabric of who and what you need to be as a leader. In a recent post […]
The Wizard of Oz may have been pulling levers and projecting smoke and mirrors, but that wouldn’t make him a very effective leader. In today’s dynamic world, the “man behind the curtain” approach simply doesn’t work. True leaders understand that inspiration stems from visibility, trust from approachability, and connection from relatability. Just like Dorothy needed […]
We often imagine leadership as a grand production. Spotlight moments, heroic decisions, and sweeping pronouncements come to mind. But what if the key to building a truly impactful reputation isn’t found in these blockbuster scenes? What if it lies in the quiet, seemingly insignificant interactions that fill our daily lives? The truth is, leadership isn’t […]
In a world obsessed with hustle culture and #winning, the pressure to achieve perfection is omnipresent. We push ourselves to the limit, fueled by the belief that anything less than perfect is failure. But what if this relentless pursuit of flawlessness is actually holding us back? What if, in our quest for the unattainable 100%, […]
In the grand theatre of leadership, there’s a delicate dance playing out on the main stage: the display of expertise. On one hand, we have the confident captains, radiating knowledge like beacons, guiding their teams through uncharted waters. On the other, lurk the know-it-alls, tripping over their own pronouncements, leaving trails of deflated egos and […]
