When our dreams collide with reality, reality wins! Dreams without action is a world of make believe.  Consider the following: 96% of college professors believe they have above average teaching skills. 50% of high school students believe they will attend law school, medical school, or grad school. Time magazine asked in a survey, “Are you...Read More

I know! It sounds like the title of a documentary on a third-world rouge dictator who’s been overthrown.  However, it’s much closer to home. “70% of strategic failures come from poor execution of leadership…it’s rarely for lack of smarts or vision” – Ram Charan It’s one thing to develop a strategy but quite another to execute...Read More

“The 10% success rate of strategy is wildly inflated.”  Tom Peters One of the quickest ways for organizations – both for profit and nonprofit – to lose credibility and feel shame, is to admit they don’t have a strategic plan. Yet there are organizations that can’t move forward on the strategic plan they have. The...Read More

What makes a great organization? We could list a number of things, but right at the top would be “GREAT PEOPLE.” So the question becomes, “how can leaders help their people achieve their greatness?” My good friends, Ken Jennings and John Stahl-wert say “it’s in serving them.” Their 10th anniversary edition of The Serving Leader lays out 5...Read More

Turning dreams into reality involves some luck. Organizations often discount the role of luck in strategic outcomes. You can’t plan your way into getting struck by lightening. Luck does play a roll in our success, but luck was never meant to be a strategy. If you are using luck as a strategy you will soon...Read More