I recently wrote a eulogy to a remarkable black bear named Yellow Yellow. She was the unusually resourceful bear who beat virtually every bear canister in her efforts to mooch food from campers in the Adirondack mountains. She was so ingenious that bear canister companies used her as...

You know this person: He's the celebrated leader in his company and a darling of his industry. His organization is profiled as the next big thing. He's written up as a leader bursting with innovation and purpose and dreams. Money and talent flow to this guy as investors and resume-builders...

One of the accepted truths in our world today is that if you do what you love, the money will follow. Here's the conclusion I've come to: Either it's a hugely new phenomenon that should be tested and watched carefully or it's a load of crap. I'm betting that it's...

Fear works. There. I said it. I got all huffy in a recent post about not creating a fear-inducing environment. But the truth is that fear kicks ass. It gets people scurrying around. If you hate complacency, there's nothing like a little panic to relax you. And...

"I don't like my new boss," my friend said a while back over lunch. "We don't fight enough."

You what?!?!

I was taken a little off-guard by my friend's comment. He's a senior executive who had just started reporting to a new CEO. Hey, complaints about new bosses aren't unusual....

I wasn't in the room when Newsweek's leaders decided to end its 80-year print run and go all-digital. But Tina Brown's note to readers in a recent issue of the magazine reads like a textbook case of what happens when you get Altitude.

The jury is still out...

The funny thing about the whole fiscal cliff scenario is that we're surprised about how paralyzed our system is. It's like our whole country is shaking its head as we watch a car driven by Barack Obama and John Boehner careen toward the cliff with Harry Reid and Ben Bernanke...

A while ago, I had the opportunity to sit down with a leader who had just finished a long, distinguished run as the CEO of a high-growth professional services firm.

She joined not long after the firm started. The early days were hairy. Several times, she and the other founding...

• If you slept in a warm bed last night... give thanks.
• If your sleep was uninterrupted by violence and fear... give thanks.
• If you were blessed with a good education that stretched your mind and heart... give thanks.
• If you had a family member or friend who invested time, energy,...

Ever seen leaders play one of these roles at a planning meeting?

• The Lecturer - In meeting 1, you're locked in a planning session and the leader is controlling everything. She says too much and says it too strongly. The rest of the leadership team starts to wonder why they...

Unless you're a sailboat racing nut, you may have missed the story about the dramatic capsizing of Team Oracle's 72-foot catamaran in San Francisco Bay. Sailboat racing isn't my thing, but my friend and strategic facilitation colleague, Linda Lindquist-Bishop -- a world-class sailboat racer herself -- passed on...

Matt the CEO loves to set super-ambitious goals. If a normal person would look at the numbers and suggest that his organization should grow 10 percent, you can bet your airline upgrade that he'll target 20 percent. Ask him why he does this and he has a simple, snappy answer:...

Dear Employee,

It's strategy season and what your organization most needs now is the truth. Here's the bad news: the truth is usually in hiding.

You and your teammates know things about what's going on with the business that your boss can't hope to know. You live closer to the...

Dear Boss,

It's strategy season and what you most need now is the truth. Here's the bad news: No one tells you the truth.

This may come as a surprise. You think you're approachable, fair, and level-headed. Trust me, you're not... at least not in the minds of your people....

What's different about this year's kickoff of the college football season is the amount of attention being given to Nick Saban's coaching philosophy. He's become a topic of discussion not only in the sports press but in the business press. I guess that's what happens when...

After a three-month unpaid internship, I got my first job as a salesperson. I was the most unlikely salesperson in the world. My dad was a doctor. He saw salespeople as pests who diverted valuable time from seeing patients. All five of his sons had been subtly indoctrinated to think...

A while ago, I had the opportunity to shadow a top-performing salesperson who sells an innovative service to small businesses. We spent a high-energy day visiting business owners to see if this service was a good fit for them.

It wasn't easy to get past the receptionists. They sized us...

Why do some brands grab our hearts while others leave us looking around the room to see who else is there? Don't blame (or credit) the marketing department. At least, not entirely.

Take my recent visit to a Blockbuster store. Like you, I rarely visit the blue and yellow branded...

Years ago, I was lucky enough to tour Israel and Palestine with a long-time mentor of mine who just happened to be an expert in the area's ancient history and current, complicated situation. As part of our tour, we stopped in on Elias Chacour, a remarkable Palestinian Catholic priest who...

I work with smart people all of the time. They are often products of the best schools in the world, have impressive accomplishments, and can do super mental gymnastics. If you haven't watched a Harvard MBA do a mental triple somersault with a twist in the layout position, you really...