leadership – Page 12

Dr. Cecelia Houser Shares Her Views on Communication, Transparency & Trust

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Dr. Cecelia Houser is a Principal with Korn Ferry/Hay Group Leadership and Talent Consulting Practice. Cecelia is a skilled facilitator with more than 40 years of management and organizational leadership experience. She is dedicated to helping clients build a leadership pipeline through professional development training, utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, and executive coaching.

Cecelia had served for 12 years as faculty and mentor at Seton Hall University for its Master of Arts in Strategic Communication and Leadership program (MASCL).

Cecelia earned an Ed.D. from Illinois State University, a master’s degree from Montclair State University, and a bachelor’s degree from The College of New Jersey.

Angela Maiers Talks About Owning Your Genius and Mattering

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Angela Maiers is the founder of Choose2Matter, a global movement that challenges and inspires students to work collaboratively to develop innovative solutions to social problems. She has also authored six books, including Classroom Habitudes and The Passion-Driven Classroom, which introduced the concept of “Genius Hour” in education. Her “You Matter” talk at TEDx Des Moines in June 2011 has been viewed several hundred thousand times and was the impetus for Choose2Matter. Angela’s powerful message and down-to-earth style has made her a highly sought-after keynote speaker for education conferences, corporate events and innovation summits. Connect with her at Twitter @AngelaMaiers.

Next week’s guest is Miguel Dias, CEO of CEO WORLD.

Scott Mordell Talks About the Value of Shared Experiences and Having a Safe Haven

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Scott Mordell has been CEO of a number of privately-held organizations. He has served as YPO’s CEO for six years. YPO is the global platform for chief executives to engage, learn and grow. YPO members harness the knowledge, influence and trust of the world’s most influential and innovative business leaders to inspire business, personal, family and community impact.

Today, YPO empowers more than 25,000 chief executives in more than 130 countries, diversified among industries and types of businesses. Altogether, YPO member-led companies employ more than 15 million people and generate USD6 trillion in annual revenues.

Next week’s guests are Jimmy LeBlanc and Perry Stagg, Louisiana Department of Corrections.

Christina L. Martini Speaks to the Power of Diverse Perspectives

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Christina L. Martini is a partner with DLA Piper – a global law firm with lawyers in more than 40 countries. Tina is Chair of the Chicago Intellectual Property Practice Group and serves as DLA Piper’s National Hiring Partner – Associate Recruiting. She has received numerous professional accolades, including an “AV Preeminent” rating by Martindale-Hubbell.

In addition to Tina’s full-time practice and various leadership roles at the firm, she is a thought leader, author, columnist, and speaker. Tina frequently shares her business and legal expertise on media outlets such as Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, WGN Plus Radio, Chicago Lawyer Magazine, Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, Huffington Post, and Fast Company, among others.

Next week’s guest is Scott Mordell, CEO of YPO.

Rep. Barton and Rep. Doyle Reflect on Civility

In the wake of this morning’s (6/14/2017) senseless shooting in Alexandria, Virginia, Representatives Joe Barton (R-TX) and Mike Doyle (D-PA) held a joint news conference on the congressional baseball practice shooting, updating reporters and assuring everyone that the annual game will go on as scheduled. Their extemporaneous and poignant reflection is something that should give all pause.

Here are a few excerpts provided by CSPAN, along with a video of the press conference. The full press conference is well worth watching.

Rep. Doyle: “IT SHOULDN’T TAKE AN INCIDENT LIKE THIS TO BRING US TOGETHER. I KNOW IN TIMES OF TRAGEDY WE AS AMERICANS DO THAT. BUT JOE AND I HAVE BEEN REFLECTING A LOT LATELY JUST ON HOW WE CAN STILL MAINTAIN OUR PRINCIPLES AND OUR LEGISLATIVE AGENDAS BUT IN A MORE CIVIL WAY. AND WHEN THE LEADERSHIP OF THIS COUNTRY IS CIVIL TOWARDS ONE ANOTHER, MAYBE THE PUBLIC WILL START BEING CIVIL TOWARDS ONE ANOTHER, TOO. AND THE NEWS MEDIA WILL BE CIVIL TOWARDS MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AND THE PUBLIC. AND WE CAN CHANGE THE MOOD IN THIS COUNTRY SO THAT PEOPLE DON’T GET FILLED UP WITH THIS KIND OF HATRED.”

Rep. Barton: “IT’S A DIFFERENT CLIMATE TODAY THAN IT WAS IN 1985 WHEN I FIRST GOT ELECTED AND PART OF IT IS TECHNOLOGY AND THE ATTACK POLITICS AND THE 15-SECOND ATTACK ADS AND THINGS LIKE THAT. MEMBERS ARE NOT LOOKED AT AS PEOPLE ANYMORE. WE’RE KIND OF LOOKED AT AS, I DON’T WANT TO SAY TARGETS, BUT PEOPLE THINK THEY CAN COME TO OUR TOWN HALL MEETINGS AND SAY JUST THE MOST OBNOXIOUS THINGS AND WE NOT FEEL IT PERSONALLY. I CAN ASSURE YOU, EVERY MEMBER OF CONGRESS IS A PERSON. HE HAS FAMILY.”

Here’s where we can all take Kouzes and Posner’s advice to model the way.

Sekou Andrews – Making the Whole Greater Than the Sum Of Our Smarts!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (36.0MB)

Sekou Andrews is an elementary schoolteacher turned actor, musician, national poetry slam champion, entrepreneur, and now the world’s leading Poetic Voice. On any given day, Sekou may deliver an original talk for international marketing executives, give a keynote speech at a leadership conference, or perform pieces for Barack Obama in Oprah’s backyard. His work has been featured on such diverse national media outlets as ABC World News, MSNBC, HBO, Good Morning America, Showtime, MTV and BET. Sekou does more than inspire us with his story; he inspires us with our story. You can learn more about Sekou at http://sekouandrews.com and http://rockstarspeakersecrets.com.

Next week’s guest is Paul Michelman, Editor-in-Chief, MIT Sloan Management Review.

Serving Life

The title of this post was taken from a powerful 2011 documentary narrated by Forest Whitaker about a group of inmate volunteers who staff their own hospice inside a maximum security prison in Louisiana, where the average sentence is more than 90 years. I became aware of the documentary after spending three days at a residency for prison wardens in Baton Rouge in the Spring of 2016 at the behest of Vistage Worldwide (where I worked at the time), which was exploring the prospect of including prison wardens in Vistage groups.

Here’s how the Warden Exchange eloquently and accurately portrays its mission: The Warden Exchange™ (WE) is a Prison Fellowship program empowering corrections professionals to create a legacy of safer prisons and safer communities. The Warden Exchange convenes thought leaders who exchange innovative ideas and best practices for the moral rehabilitation of inmates. Together, we can create a prison culture conducive to restorative change and successful reentry.

Essentially, wardens from all over the country come together for in-person residencies and online sessions throughout the year to learn from one another. It’s a remarkable collection of leaders who have an unspeakably difficult job. I was privileged to get to know them and blown away by a group visit to Angola – the maximum security prison that was the subject of the documentary. During my three days at the residency, I witnessed the power of peers in its full splendor – wardens learning from one another, the tireless efforts and teamwork of the Angola staff, and prisoners serving life sentences resolved to making their “community” better.

I didn’t know what to expect when I attended the residency last year, but I am grateful for having had the experience and for staying in touch with National Director for the Warden Exchange, Pedro Moreno. As a result, I led a workshop for about 40 wardens in Houston earlier today, and the group was amazing. (I also had the pleasure of talking to Burl Cain, the person who transformed Angola from the bloodiest prison in the U.S. to what it’s become today). I wish everyone could see these incredible leaders, up close and personal, to appreciate the work they do to make our society better. Best of all, they are doing it together, serving life one peer at a time!

(By the way, if you’ve never seen Serving Life, buckle up and check it out!)

Can’t Think of An Issue to Discuss With Your Group, What if…?

A common topic of conversation in the peer group workshops I conduct is that CEOs and business leaders contend they don’t always find it easy to think of a subject or issue to raise with their peers during their monthly meeting. Among the five factors or five conditions necessary to a high performing peer group is fostering valuable interaction. The problem is, you can’t have valuable interaction if you don’t have anything to interact about.

Most members see the time they spend with their peer group as when they work on their business, rather than in their business. These meetings are designed to be spent tackling the larger strategic issues that don’t often their get their due during the course of a hectic work week. That being the case, if you don’t have a pressing business issue or opportunity to raise with your group, then work on your business by calling upon your list of what if?… questions (the list you should start today)!

It’s a basic crisis communication planning tool. You simply identify the crises that could shut down or severely disrupt your business, prioritize them by the amount of damage they could cause and the likelihood they could occur, and plan a strategy for how you would handle them. What if a natural disaster destroyed your headquarters? What if your right hand person left the company without warning? What if a new competitor entered your industry sector with a disruptive technology that threatened your very existence as an organization? Your what if?… questions could be framed as opportunities as well. For example, what if your biggest competitor when out of business?

Next time you’re stuck for an issue to discuss with your peer group, grab your list of what if?… questions and pick one. Your question will likely apply to everyone, and because of it, you’ll get the whole group started on developing the kind of comprehensive strategies that could save you, your fellow members, and their respective companies someday!

Lolly Daskal and the Leadership Gap

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (31.4MB)

As we open the second quarter of the Year of the Peer, we do so as a member of the C-Suite Radio family. To get us started, we are joined by Lolly Daskal.

Lolly Daskal is a best-selling author and one of the most sought-after executive leadership coaches in the world. Her extensive expertise spans 14 countries, six languages and hundreds of companies. As founder and CEO of Lead From Within, her proprietary leadership program serves as a catalyst for leaders who want to enhance their performance and make a meaningful difference in their companies and in the world. Lolly’s proprietary insights are the subject of her new book, The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness.

Lolly was designated a Top-50 Leadership and Management Expert by Inc. magazine, and Huffington Post honored her with the title of The Most Inspiring Woman in the World.

Next week’s guest, LinkedIn Chief Human Resources Officer, Pat Wadors.

A Simple Idea, but Not a Small One

Later this week, I look forward to having my coauthor Leon Shapiro join me as my guest on the Year of the Peer Podcast with Leo Bottary, as we mark the one-year anniversary of the launch of The Power of Peers: How the Company You Keep Drives Leadership, Growth & Success. When I think back to how much we were anticipating the release of the book, it’s hard to believe how quickly the time has passed.

Leon will share much of what he’s experienced over the past 12 months during our upcoming conversation. For me, it’s been the learning experience of a lifetime. I’ve enjoyed the privilege of speaking to business leaders, scholars, and students, both here in the U.S. and abroad, sharing key concepts from the book and being fascinated by countless stories that people, from all walks of life, have shared with me about the power of peer in their lives. No matter where we live, none of us achieves anything entirely on our own.

In the end, we wrote the book because when you look at the positive difference peers and peer groups have made in the lives of CEOs and business leaders all across the world and then realize how few of them avail themselves of this powerful resource, it’s hard to square.

How could something that is so simple and works so well, be so underutilized? In a world where, all too often, we don’t give peer influence a second thought, what if we did? What if we could transform peer influence into peer advantage by simply being more selective, strategic and structured about how we engage those around us? The good news is we don’t have to guess. We know what happens, and I believe if more people reached out to one another more positively and purposefully more often, the world would be a better place.

That’s what makes every minute I spend writing a blog post, preparing for a podcast interview, or speaking to a live audience so worthwhile. Who we surround ourselves with matters. With a little effort, we can make it matter even more.

It’s not unlike the premise of Drew Dudley’s famous TED Talk, where he described leadership, not as an ominous concept, but as making a difference in the lives of those around us, one person at a time. He closed by saying, “It’s a simple idea, but I don’t think it’s a small one.”

He’s right.