Timeless Leadership

What does patriotism have to do with leadership? Everything, it turns out. And practical philosopher Tom Morris is back to share his latest book, a timely volume that contains the secret to what we need right now. More than the rah-rah of nationalistic jingoism, patriotism at its core is about collective responsibility. And we all have a responsibility to lead in this regard.   Links The Heavy Bur...

We hear more about soft skills and leadership these days. And let’s face it: these “soft” skills are actually quite hard to master. Dan Pontefract believes in the power of empathetic leadership; he led teams at TELUS, SAP and more and transformed their cultures. In this episode, Dan talks about these softer, unseen skills and how to connect them to tangible successes in the workplace. Links Lead....

What would you do when you’re out of luck and your only communication is as far as you can shout? That’s what faced Antarctic explorers of the Heroic Age, and Brad Borkan has analyzed their decisions — good and bad — and identified the behaviors and skills that we can apply to everyday scenarios on the other six continents. In When Your Life Depends on It: Extreme Decision-Making Lessons from the...

As vice president, executive managing editor and copy chief, at Random House, Benjamin Dreyer pays attention to words. And people pay attention to Dreyer's words. More recently, they've been paying attention to  Dreyer's English , a New York Times bestseller. In this episode, we explore the importance of language with respect to leadership: the connection between leadership and word choice, being...

We often think of nerds as “others.” Those whom Judge Smails in Caddyshack said “don’t belong.” But we all have quirks and ultimately we all find people with whom share our passions, interests, and ideas; from there, leadership can take root. Curtis Armstrong is the perfect example of that. In his memoir Revenge of the Nerd , he takes us on a touching and hilarious journey from the Beatles to Sher...

The world runs on stories. From cave paintings 30,000 years ago to the epic poems of Homer to the next installment of Ozark, humans love stories that make them feel something. And John Livesay knows about moving people to make a sale. A former sales executive with Condé Nast, he had to make his company stand out from other publishers, and he knew he needed more than numbers. Now known as “The Pitc...

Leadership is anything but simple. For centuries, we have struggled to dissect it, understand its complexities, and capture its essence. Effective leadership is an influence process where leaders implement everyday, commonsense approaches that help people and organizations thrive. When Ken Blanchard and Randy Conley teamed up to combine the concepts of servant leadership and trust, their output wa...

When you spend time coaching and managing other people, there’s often one thing that gets left out: coaching yourself. It sounds like an oxymoron, as we’re all supposed to have mentors and managers who look out for us. But the reality is, there are plenty of ways to take the reins yourself—something with which remote workers have come to grips during the pandemic. David Novak , retired chairman an...

“If I were asked, now that I am drawing to the close of this work, in which I have spoken of so many important things done by the Americans, to what the singular prosperity and growing strength of that people ought mainly to be attributed, I should reply—to the superiority of their women.” — Alexis de Tocqueville, 1840 Imagine being a woman in 1822 in rural America — a mother of four, with your ne...

When you're stuck in the grind or are just burned out by the endless cycles of... [gestures wildly], the easy solution is to just go with the flow. But there are times when the world requires more of us. And the bottom line is, no one is going to make decisions about our best interest except us. Adam Singer , a tech marketing leader, has changed jobs and even famously relocated from the Bay Area t...

We’ve long heard about “work-life balance.” But has it been a reality for most people? In the last couple of years, burnout has become more widespread and employees are making lifestyle choices part of their job requirements. Jen Fisher , who serves as Deloitte’s Chief Well Being Officer, has done the research that links companies’ financial performances to the health and well-being of their emplo...

In Twelfth Night , Shakespeare wrote of greatness: “be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em. Thy Fates open their hands.” And so it is with leadership. Sometimes, fate has a way of getting us to step up. That’s exactly what happened with Jim Rafferty. A tragic crime robbed his son’s scout troop of their Scoutmaster, and Jim w...

Life isn’t always easy. Sometimes it isn’t fair. And leaders know that in those instances, what you’re made of will show your true character. David Morales is an executive, entrepreneur, and author who has found his way from poverty to success, but his true success is more than monetary. He has found it in the values he has learned and carries on: those of perseverance, grit, and faith. He talks a...

Our first episode of Timeless Leadership in 2022 goes in the direction of philosophy and business. Plato divulged many lessons to his students, and in doing so, enumerated a handful of leadership models that are still relevant today. These models define a number of modern leaders and are fluid enough that we can find ourselves espousing the principles of more than one of them at a time. R. Edward...

This episode of Timeless Leadership takes a different turn. Grief is a process that we’re likely all enduring right now, in one form or another. A good leader will understand that their employees are more than who they are at work—and will know the right questions to ask when they observe something. Peg Conway observed something in herself years after her mother died with Peg was just seven years...

We were without a guest this week on Timeless Leadership, so we grabbed an item from the #GratitudeFriday Twitter Spaces we hosted. Each Friday, we swap stories with other participants about things for which we were grateful or that brought joy into our lives, in order to share that joy with others. This week, it was (surprisingly) an obituary for Renay Mandel Corren .   Find  Timeless Leadership...

The latest episode of Timeless Leadership is History, Disrupted . Knowing history is essential to charting a course for the future. But history misinformation and disinformation spreads so quickly on the web that we risk losing critical data about our past that can erode the present. Jason Steinauer, author of History, Disrupted: How Social Media and the World Wide Web Have Changed the Past , and...

This week on  Timeless Leadership  (available everywhere you get podcasts), the topic is Growth . Every business, every sales executive, every leader is interested in growth. But we largely look at growth simply as a numbers game. What if you took a more holistic approach? Our guest is Jon Ferrara , founder of Nimble CRM , who is dedicated to helping people grow — not just as professionals, but pe...

This week on  Timeless Leadership  (available everywhere you get podcasts), the topic is  Long-Term Thinking . It seems like the 21st century is conspiring against us, giving us the opportunity to multitask like never before, flashing never-ending notifications on our phones, and giving us everything on demand. But we're being short-changed, as our ability to focus on the long term is knee-capped....

This week on Timeless Leadership (available everywhere you get podcasts), the topic is Influence . “Influencers” get a lot of press, and not all of it is good. But rather than focusing on influencers and influencer marketing, Jason Falls focuses on influence: where does it come from? What are the principles behind it? And how can you prepare yourself to influence others, whether you’re a fashionis...

This week on Timeless Leadership , the topic is Inspiration . Thomas Edison said “Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration,” but that’s giving too much credit to the hard work. Without the inspiration to set someone in the right direction, the work would never begin. Chris Voss, of The Chris Voss Show Podcast and author of Beacons of Leadership: Inspiring Lessons of Success in...

This week on Timeless Leadership , the topic is Realism . As we blast into the future together on Spaceship Earth, what awaits us? Everywhere we turn, there are examples of future states that are alternatively cheery or hopeless. But Kate O’Neill argues that the future is not binary. In fact, there are many futures that await us; it depends on how we look at it. That’s the premise of her book A Fu...

This week on Timeless Leadership , the topic is Trust . What’s the shortest distance between cynicism and hope? If you said trust, then you’re aligned with Margot Bloomstein, author of Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap . Trust also happens to be, in our opinion, the basis of any kind of relationship — and certainly of leadership. Without trust, you’re a bo...

This week on Timeless Leadership , the topic is Attentiveness . When we’re leading — particularly in moments of success — it’s common to let our guard down. To take our eyes off the ball for a moment. It’s at that very moment that we need to be more attentive, more vigilant, than ever. And that’s what Len Herstein writes about in his new book Be Vigilant! Strategies to Stop Complacency, Improve Pe...

This week on Timeless Leadership , the topic is Adaptability . There are many ways to become a better leader. But there’s no single way. Every leader needs to be prepared for changes that they didn’t anticipate. You can’t bury your head in the sand, nor can you chase the latest fad. There’s a balance and a number of things to consider as change happens. Our guest this week is analyst, speaker, and...