Ideas that Matter

  The Idea: An old friend recently gave me a book called Legacy by James Kerr.  I read its 170 pages in one night.  I have personally read, listened to, and outlined more than 500 books on leadership, strategy, influence, and... read more

The Idea:  In his book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, released in 1962, scientist Thomas Kuhn famously discovered the phenomenon of the “paradigm shift,” or a moment where enough errors in one’s methodology or results force one to completely reconsider... read more

The Idea: “My team gets lost in the deck and can’t tell our story,” a beloved Vice President of Sales said to me recently. “Our pitch puts others to sleep.”  Simply put, his team was used to giving presentations, rather than... read more

The Idea: The most cutting edge research clearly shows that empathetic leadership has a significant impact on organizational development and growth.  Most business journals have written extensively on the topic, and it’s even appearing as a core topic in many... read more

The Idea: In the last twenty years, only two of Pixar’s twenty films have flopped.  They have created some of the most successful, innovative, and commercially relevant films of the last two decades (Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The... read more

The Idea:  In Amazon’s customer-centric world, the norm is customer obsession.  When customer service problems arise, everyone drops everything to respond.   Consumer problems are viewed as priceless insights into the motives, inspirations, and future needs of the customer. A concerned... read more

The Idea:  Scott Galloway, Founder of L2 and Clinical Professor at NYU Stern School, is must watch television.  A one-man wrecking crew, he creates explosive digital content explaining the demise of the industrial advertising complex and the necessary, new rules... read more

The great leader Max De Pree, former Herman Miller CEO, once said, “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant.” Amateurs... read more

A good reputation is more valuable than money. - Publilius Syrus The Idea: Shakespeare understood that “Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.”  Reputations are often overstated, misunderstood, and occasionally lost in a... read more

Quit Talking at Me – The Most Effective Critique Strategy! The Idea:  We live in a world where most people talk past and at each other. There are lots of words, too much debate, and very limited influence. The art of... read more