Okay Leadership students. Take out your pen and paper and answer this question for today’s pop quiz:

What is your vision for how you will change or grow as a Leader between now and December 31st?

Pause to think about your answer before reading further . . . .

Labor Day is upon us. A change of seasons. With it, daily indications that the worst of the economy’s downturn is behind us. Some leaders have been stuck in neutral with their companies — trying every trick in the book but unable to grow sales. Others have continued to (painfully) cut employees and close stores — trying to stay afloat and ahead of the lenders. And some have been weathering things well, but have shifted themselves into neutral for summertime.

Well, it’s time to get to work — opportunity awaits! What is your vision for where you want to be 120 days from now?

My colleague Chris Cavanaugh recently made the observation that people find themselves in one of two groups these days: lamenting or inventing.

Many of us are looking backwards and lamenting. We grieve what has been taken away, either from us personally, or someone we know:

* our retirement account
* our job
* our house
* our club membership
* our assumptions about the way life works
* our confidence that we know what we are doing

Geoff Ramsey is a good friend and CEO of eMarketer in New York.  eMarketer has become “the authority” on research and trends in online marketing, and it’s charts and data regularly appear in national newspapers, magazines and advertising industry periodicals.  Geoff himself is considered a leading spokesman for his industry and is frequently invited to [...]

“Lieutenant McKinnon, you are dead!”

I’ll never forget those words, barked at me by the Captain evaluating me on a dusty, hot morning at Fort Knox, Kentucky, early in my officer training. I was leading a six-man team of fellow officers through a series of Leadership Simulation Exercises — the Army’s version of leadership training scenarios like you might encounter in an Outward Bound-type setting. We had a problem, in this case, getting our entire team to the other side of a “room” laced with tripwires and “explosives,” that we had to solve in a limited amount of time. Rapid-fire assessment, delegation, direction-setting, monitoring and action were demanded in a pressure-filled, time-limited environment. The grade would either by Mission Accomplished or Mission Failure — no in-between.

Sound like one of your days at the office?

What are your plans for the new year? How will you be as intentional as possible in defining this year, as opposed to passively letting the year define you?

Here are a few thoughts for you if you’re feeling the nudge to put some stakes in the ground.

I’ve grown weary of reading the bad news in the print and internet media over the past week (see what I did about it at the bottom of this post).  So I decided to look at the Leaders I see in action around me who are writing their own headlines . . .
CEO, CFO review [...]

A CEO frustrated with his board.
A Board frustrated with its CEO.
A Partner frustrated with his partner.
A Partner frustrated with HIS partner.
A CEO frustrated with her COO.
A COO frustrated with his CEO.
Boy, I run across these scenarios too often. I use the word “frustrated” because it represents the middle ground between “I want to have [...]

The economic world as we knew it has shifted significantly over the past six months. How has your leadership shifted?

On Tuesday of this week, I met with the President of a 600-person company that finds itself right in the crosshairs of the current real estate – capital markets mess. The day before, Monday, he had let 10% of his employees go — a move that was emotionally difficult, but necessary. In the last three months, this Leader has seen the landscape of his industry shift radically.

What struck me as we talked was the peace and confidence he projected. Even more significant was the clarity he had about his company’s focus. “Everyone knows we are focused on two things between now and December,” he said, and pointed to the whiteboard behind me, opposite his desk, where the guidelines for the coming months were written. This Leader knows where he is steering the company as the landscape around him shifts.

Uncertain times?

Let’s see . . a stock market that no one can forecast . . . a presidential race completely up for grabs . . . and a 31 year-old trader who just cost his company $7.2 billion.

What a great time for Leaders to step up.

I read a great story last week about one Leader whose company is thriving amidst a crisis that has tanked most of the rest of his industry.

“I thought his press conference the other day was brilliant; though brilliant might be the wrong word to use at a time like this. I think you saw compassion and that first day you saw leadership. He was a strong presence. He had human interest stories and he had honesty when he said, ‘I’ve never dealt with this before.’ When you’re sitting there you’ve got a guy who is strong, compassionate and has a plan.”

- The Washington Post, 12.1.07

The Leader: Joe Gibbs, President and Head Coach.

The audience: players and coaches of the Washington Redskins football team.

The challenge: Leading the team in the aftermath of player Sean Taylor’s sudden death.

What talk have you given to the players in your organization in the past 30 days? What was the challenge? How would the reviews have read on your leadership performance?