Getting People OFF the Bus: Hiring, Firing and Building a Staff – Part 1 of Many

By | Leadership, Management | One Comment

When I first became CEO I read everything I could get my hands on about management, leadership, business strategy and how to run a successful company. Some of these books seemed to speak to my values, offering wisdom and advice that made sense and felt comfortable. Others, written by business gurus, inspired and overwhelmed me, none more so than Good to Great by Jim Collins. I love that book.   I learned a great deal from it. And I lost sleep at night worrying about how to become a Level 5 leader. But it was the second stage of attempting to take my company from “good to great” that really made me appreciate what no one really spells out in the business books.   That second…

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Why Another Leadership Blog: My Biggest Failure As A Leader and What It Taught Me.

By | Uncategorized | 11 Comments

Most of us will never forget September 11, 2001.  It was a day of tragedy and pain and unwavering bravery on the part of so many.  I was a new CEO, only a little over a year in my position and our offices were on Sixth Avenue and 18th Street in NYC.  We were hosting the London executives from our parent company that day, and we were intending to have a strategic planning session.  Right before the meeting started I remember sitting there, fuming, because the corporate COO had offered one of the men in the room tickets to a Yankee game that week.  I spoke up and said, “I love the Yankees! I’ve been a big fan since I was a small…

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