The Transformational Leader: Story of the Seed
THE STORY
A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business.
Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together.
He said, “It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided
to choose one of you.” The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued. ”I am going to give each one of you a seed today – one very special seed. … Read More “The Transformational Leader: Story of the Seed”
When it comes to trust—How do people see you? How do you view yourself? Are you a trust booster or a trust buster?
When people are in need, my hand is often raised. Especially, wherever I see I can contribute and make a difference. I grew up reading super hero comic books—Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman, Captain America, Hulk, Spiderman—you name it! Maybe this is where it all started. I collected them all. I believe this is my way of living into what they represented to me in my childhood—good, doing what’s right and helping others. Now, I am not claiming to be perfect or better—to the contrary. I have learned to respect there is always someone I can learn from and look up to. … 
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Personally, I find human behavior fascinating and his question meant he was really giving this some careful consideration, and many others may have a similar question. I have found Wikipedia to be a good reference as an overview. … 
Today, margins are tight and that is not going to be changing anytime soon. Standing in a corner at a networking event will not get the business. Keeping quiet about what we do robs others of the opportunity to experience the superior advantages of what we do.
I received a communication requesting recommendations for how to open up communication within the organization. This is a bold and quite perceptive insight for an executive leader to recognize this need. Communication is the root cause that erodes trust and if effectively woven into the cultural fabric, can sustain an organization. Today it requires starting over with a “beginner’s mind” considering today’s social media climate.
More and more, we are hearing about executives in their ivory tower that only tell their employees what they want to hear. But, how much is too much? At what time do we sacrifice productivity for the sake of being transparent and building a culture of trust? … 
Business is the heartbeat of our country and many continue to struggle, their pulse is weakening. Let’s face it, the economy is still tight. We are doing more with less; and, perhaps will have to do so well into the future. There are many blind spots that exist in business today. Organizations that discover and master these today will have a sustainable competitive advantage tomorrow. These include use of implementing a comprehensive social media strategy, shifting to a culture of change and innovation, managing internal and competitive intelligence, and leveraging grant opportunities that contribute to the bottom-line, among others. I will to speak about the latter in this posting today.… 
The key to sustaining innovation is being able to think out of the box—keeping fresh ideas coming. Taking leadership to the next level and providing programs that “go deep” means literally digging deeper. Over time, we develop tunnel vision. I know I have. So, I have to consciously keep myself out of that rut. Otherwise, the potential for blind spots increases—I continue to discover that I have more than my fair share. I can at times simply hit a brick wall. My team can also hit a brick wall. And, ultimately innovation is halted.