Quotes for Leaders (5) Lead the Pack

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I have this belief, I have this confidence.  If anyone does something or makes something, I know I can do it and make it better.  That is, if I truly want to.  For nearly five years now, I have been laboring on a conceptual framework and its practical applications model that under gird my belief and confidence.  It is a framework and model that anyone can adopt, too.

Quotes for Leaders (4) Take On, Give Up

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The New Year brings a rash of resolutions from many Americans, and the main reason why quite a number fall by the wayside is that they're much easier said than done.  Any meaningful goal, target or aim is inviolably complex and challenging.  So, to the quote above, one question is what we are willing to take on and what we are willing to give up in order to reach that goal, hit that target, and realize that aim.  What?

Quotes for Leaders (3) Make Ourselves

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Granted, many things are outside our sphere of knowledge and also out of our control.  Life and the world at large are a dynamic complex, and sometimes shit, as they say, happens.  But if we are to distinguish ourselves from others, we ought to listen to what existential philosopher and playwright Jean Paul Sartre says.

Quotes for Leaders (2) Believe in Ourselves

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This is what psychologist Albert Bandura called self efficacy. 

Quotes for Leaders (1) Bring in the Future

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Goals are inviolably about the future.  If something isn't in the future, then it cannot be a goal.  So to realize whatever goal we may set, we must get out of ourselves and go into a future where that goal is realized.  Then, to the quote above, it's a matter of forging the pathways backward to the present.  Our plan is how we intend to walk these pathways. 

Booz's Jack Mayer on People Value

People model is something that garners a lot of lip service among corporations, but in my 30+ years of experience it is remarkable how it often falls short, falls by the wayside, and simply falls down.  Some CEOs seem to get caught up more in strategy, process or technology, and neglect the elemental fact that without the right people, nothing works in the corporation.  So valuing the people they had, as Jack Mayer speaks to it, and visioning the people they ought to have are crucial.

Booz's Karen Dahut on Pure Opportunity

Karen Dahut graciously avoids mentioning the name of the firm where she hit a glass ceiling.  For all the diversity and tolerance and equality many corporations tout, it is remarkable to hear that such a glass ceiling still exists.  It isn't surprising, of course.  It is altogether fitting that Dahut speaks first about her pure opportunity at Booz Allen Hamilton, because it positioned her to do the sort of client work and firm strategy that she speaks to. 

Booz's Bill Stasior on Synchronicity

I love the story about Bill Stasior meeting Jim Allen, one of Booz Allen Hamilton's founders, and what I call synchronicity:  that is, coincidental events that because of their import seem more than just coincidence.  His father encouraged him to caddie, so as to get to know golfer's personalities and also to save money for college.  Then once at Northwestern University, my alma mater as well, he won the Chick Evans Caddie Scholarship.  Stasior was happy to find out that Allen was originally a contributor to the scholarship, and the founder was happy to know that his investment paid off.