As a leader, you shape the culture of your team. You have the opportunity - and responsibility - to transform a collection of individuals into a high-performing group.

As much as you may want to, you know that you can't mandate teamwork. Plotters and schemers can...

Senator Marco Rubio chugged a tiny bottle of water during his State of the Union Republican response and instantly became comic fodder. In a swig heard 'round the world, he demonstrated why every executive must learn how to effectively communicate when Teleprompted. Lesson one: Always have water within arm's length...

Membership on a senior leadership team gives you immense cachet. You're in a circle of highly visible, powerful leaders.

Your role is complex. You simultaneously manage your own business unit, function, or division while serving on a senior team that creates the organization's future. To boot, you may be...

Much has been made of the interruptions during the recent Vice Presidential debate. I believe it's indicative of "communication interruptus" that's breaking out everywhere - from boardrooms and meeting rooms to lunch rooms and chat rooms.

We're living in an impatient, impulsive, instant gratification world. Interrupting, interjecting and talking...

You're the chief executive and your company is mired in a major public outcry. Let's call it the "Map Flap" -- Hiccups in your mapping software have marred your newest product release, which was first heralded by a frenzy of excitement worldwide.

While you may not be Tim Cook leading...

As an executive, you're called upon to deliver important messages to your organization and the marketplace. People look to you to set the tone in public speaking. You want to come across as a strong leader, but natural. To complicate matters, your busy schedule doesn't allow you a minute to...

As you watched the London Olympics, you may have wondered, "Why does one athlete reach her golden goal while another with equal talent falters?" Sports psychologists tell us the athlete who hauls in the hardware has learned to manage her anxiety.

Same with influential leaders and presenters.

After a decade...

The U.S. women's gymnastics team's electrifying performance soared, flipped and vaulted their way to the top of the medal stand at the London Olympics. They delivered the most resounding win in modern gymnastics and marked the first time a U.S. women's team has clinched gold outside of the Unites States.

By now, you've heard about Olympian Ryan Lochte's face-off with Michael Phelps in the 400-meter medley. You've heard how he dominated the race to win the gold. But you may be wondering, "What does a sports rivalry have to do with my presentation skills?"

Everything.

When you present, you are...

Girl power, meet your new heroine.

A young teen from Maine, ticked off by flagrant Photoshopping in magazines, has spun her criticism into a crusade. As a result, she's led an influential, industry-altering crusade.

Fourteen year-old Julia Bluhm started a petition on Change.org against altered photos in Seventeen...

She's a smart cookie. Medical student Priscilla Chan inspired her famously private boyfriend, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, to lead a public health revolution.

Over dinnertime chat, Priscilla shared stories of how patients she interacted with that day were impacted by organ donations. Those who failed to find donors were dying....

Let's set aside the color featured in her saucy book trilogy for a moment. The shade that's dominating the New York Times bestseller list. Literary sensation E.L. James is tickled pink.

The author of Fifty Shades of Grey is simultaneously revving the engines of women and upending the publishing...

I proudly select a Harvard scholar as my Influencer of the Week. A scholar who serves as a global ambassador for YouthAIDS. A dedicated individual who has testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. One who has presented to the National Press Club.

A scholar who's also been lambasted...

"Just do what's right," Apple's co-founder Steve Jobs reportedly advised Tim Cook, his successor as CEO of Apple Inc.

That's how shift happens.

Cook proved his inner boldness this week in a major shift with the late Jobs' philosophy. He announced the company's new dividend and buyback plan, essentially bringing...

You could hardly miss it this week. The film Kony 2012 is a triumph of marketing. It's a viral video sensation with more than 76 million YouTube hits and counting since its release just days ago.

The Kony film shines a...

A tiny town is having a huge impact, schooling the world in how to respond to a nightmare in real time, with real grace, with one heartbeat.

Welcome to Chardon, Ohio. Population five thousand, give or take a few. Today there are three fewer, taken out by gunfire in the...

The Oscar's Red Carpet was the center of the universe Sunday night, featuring wildly expensive couture and jewels, taut bodies and sometimes tauter faces. But turns out, fashion's biggest night was hijacked by J.C Penney.

Yes, J.C. Penney. The boring one.

The 110-year-old...

He's a point guard who's making a point, loud and clear. The New York Knicks' Jeremy Lin proves it's time to ditch two stereotypes: that Asian Americans aren't NBA material -- and that brainy Harvard graduates aren't either. More importantly, Lin is influencing many people with unrecognized talents that they,...

In a week that's featured the return of Adele's powerfully emotional voice, the silencing of Whitney Houston's soaring vocals, and the imminent finale of Glen Campbell's crooning to Alzheimer's disease, I feel compelled to share this truth: Use your voice. It's the center of your influence.

Ever lost your voice?...

The All American linebacker with the crazy face paint -- that's how Mark Herzlich was defined during his stellar football career at Boston College.

Then came cancer.

Doctors hoped to redefine the 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year as Mark Herzlich, cancer survivor. Finished...