Right Wisdom

Today is my wedding anniversary. I am married to a wonderful woman and have enjoyed our 17 years together. I look forward to many, more years spent with my best friend and my love. What does this have to do with leadership? Leaders are sometimes in their leadership roles for years, 17 or more. They also may love their job and never want to leave that job. Just like a marriage leadership has its ups and downs but it is how you work through the difficult times and celebrate the good times. In your leadership role are you stuck in a rut? Are you mixing it up and making it exciting? It is important that regardless how long you have been in your leadership role that you don’t take it for granted and you work through the tough times and celebrate the good times. Here are some things you can do to keep that leadership role fresh. ·          Fall in love with being a leader again. ·          Celebrate s...

After a break yesterday I am going to get back to my series on decade leadership. Today we are going to look at the glorious seventies. I spent my formative years in the seventies and enjoyed that decade. The 1970s became known as the "Me Decade" not because I spent my teenage years in the seventies but because more people moved away from the idea of community and more to the individual. The Vietnam war ended in the seventies and so did the hippie movement. We saw the resignation of President Nixon under the turmoil of the Watergate cover up. We saw two peaks in a decade long energy crisis which lead to stagflation and the worst economic times since the great depression. We also saw the rise to power of women in certain countries throughout the globe. The Cold War also continued during the seventies. The seventies also saw the rise of some great innovations. Pocket calculators, the first rudimentary personal computer, video games, the Sony Walkman and the VCR were all p...

Have you been enjoying my leadership walk through the decades of the 20th century? We started in the 1920s and have compare leadership styles to the roaring 20s, the depression and dustbowl of the 30s and World War II of the 40s. Today we are going to look at the 50s. The 1950s, the decade after World War II. The decade that saw the rise of communism and the cold war. The 1950s also saw the rise of rock and roll and the television. It also had its threats as America feared the threat of nuclear proliferation and a space race between Russia and America. What do the fifties tell us about leadership? Some words come to mind when I think of the fifties, lasting innovation, competition and reactionary. The events that occurred in the 1950s were not all positive. The Korean war happened and the threats of communism and nuclear weapons also were evident. I want to focus on the positive aspects because I believe the negatives helped to make the positives stronger. If you are a 1950s le...

Do you remember the 80's band The Culture Club? Today's blog has nothing to do with that band. But just like a band has to work together to make the music necessary to be successful a company has to provide a culture that is consistent to create a successful atmosphere. That is where the leader comes in. Leaders within the company need to convey and communicate the culture to the people around them so everyone can understand if they are a good fit for the company or not. Cultures may not be the same in each and every company but I believe there are some aspects of a culture that are in every company. Just like every band may play different style and type of music there are some parts of bands that are consistent across the music industry. Almost every band has a guitar, bass, drums and keyboard. What are the aspects of a business culture that is consistent throughout the business community? Honesty/Integrity - Most companies want to conduct business honestly and with integ...

Innovation is the final aspect of the heart of a leader. We are reviewing the five aspects of the heart of a leader as defined by Ron Edmondson. I really thought the five aspects he defined were definitely true to having the heart of a leader. Today we are on the last aspect and that is innovation. Five Aspects of the Heart of a Leader Are you an innovative leader? Do you find ways to do things that others hadn't thought of. Are you an outside the box thinker looking for ways to make your leadership better. Innovation is key to great leadership because it shows you have vision to see things others don't. To be innovative though you can't just have the vision you have to be able to implement your innovation. You need to make sure you have a plan in place to make sure your innovation is completed and finalized. What have you been innovative with? Have you come up with a new idea, process or product? Apple seems to be the innovative kings when it comes to technology,...