A couple of weeks ago I shared with you the importance of knowing WHY you work and how you can put into words your purpose of leadership. While we’ve tried to make the process simple, knowing where to begin can often be difficult. Over the next eight weeks, I’d like to share with you interviews with Popeyes leaders as well as leaders at other companies that are inspired by personal purpose. Leaders who have ...

Last week I shared with you the importance of knowing WHY you work and how you can put into words your purpose of leadership. While we’ve tried to make the process simple, knowing where to begin can often be difficult. Over the next eight weeks, I’d like to share with you interviews with Popeyes leaders as well as leaders at other companies that are inspired by personal purpose. Leaders who have defined the ...

Do you know WHY you lead? What if your airplane pilot said, “Welcome aboard. You should know that I have not prepared for today’s trip. I did not bring a map, I did not go to flight training, and frankly, I do not believe that I can get you to the destination safely.” You would not want to be on this flight! The same is true of leadership. If you do not know WHY you lead, you will not be an effective leader ...

Recently, I had the opportunity of attending at the Atlanta Renaissance Dinner at the High Museum featuring wine, music, art, terrific speakers, and over 100 works of art by Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. The purpose of the dinner was to “advance diverse leaders in top leadership across all sectors of America” through a series of “Ted Talks” given by presenters from AT&T, Accenture, Coca-Cola, and more. ...

How many places have you worked where they SAID, "we put our people first?" And how many places was it a true statement? Putting people first is an essential pillar of servant leadership based on the writings of Sipe and Frick in the Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership. But the words have been so overused and abused, I almost decided not to write a blog this week. Who would listen to ANOTHER article about p ...

Be a Person of Character "Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy. Gen. H. Norman Schwartzkopf There is an initiative being taught in school systems called Character Counts (Josephson Institute - Center for Youth Ethics). The curriculum teaches six core values to being a person with character: Responsibility Respect Trustworthines ...

I worked for a narcissist early in my career. He shall remain nameless. He was a smart, experienced, capable businessman. He was highly organized, disciplined, and paid close attention to details. He ran a good meeting, a good planning process, and kept us on track to meet budget. He was married with a lovely wife and two children. I learned plenty from this leader. I adopted some of his processes. I admire ...