Much of what we think of as the business of business takes place externally. Tangible activities like striking deals, formulating plans and launching initiatives fill our days and constitute the prism through which we view and understand our work life. But business authorities, academics, and thinkers have long suggested that the most fertile field for leadership attention is the inner …
Easy solutions and quick fixes are commonplace in contemporary society. Results are promised within days and progress guaranteed through a few simple steps. Time and again we are assured that not only can we eat more and still lose weight, but that we should. Swimming in these waters day after day, we all come to expect some degree of immediacy …
Consider the word “discipline” for a moment. In one sense it refers to a subject or a course of study. Within the context of the discipline of reflective leadership, the material to be mastered includes the principles of the human knowledge base and our ability to reflect on how our choices and behaviors, as perceived by those with whom we …
The responsibility for addressing the imperative challenge of creating unity rests upon two different but overlapping groups. First, it is essential that managers and supervisors, those people invested with formal organizational authority, commit themselves to forging the required unity, both between themselves and between the people that report to them. The unity of management is a prerequisite to …
In the landscape of today’s working world, organizations are the fundamental and defining structures within which we work, produce, and get things done. Very few people now work outside of an organization. The pervasiveness of organizations in our society is now so complete that we take them as a given and no longer question the rationale behind their existence. In …
Building reliable habits of personal reflection is not easy. Like mastering any new skill, learning to hang the mirror involves no small amount of setbacks and failure. We might maintain a sense of objectivity for a time, then lose it at a bad turn of events or sharp verbal jab. We might restrain emotional responses when the going is easy, …
Few spheres of human activity are more driven by “results” than the world of business. Visible success is the coin of the realm, and confidence, bravado, even self-aggrandizement are pervasive. Humility, then, stands as a somewhat counter-intuitive characteristic of truly outstanding leaders. Humility is certainly one of the more nuanced facets of leadership. In part, this has to do with …
All of us are attached to particular views of the world and given ways of approaching it. We know that a project is pointless and we have no time for those who think otherwise. We know that a favored employee is a gem, regardless of performance reviews suggesting the contrary. We have our positions and, regardless of circumstances, we are …
How many times have you been in the car, wrapped in thoughts of the day, and found yourself driving somewhere other than where you intended? Defaulting to familiar routines in the absence of conscious thought has uses in life, not the least enabling us to navigate a highly multitasking world. But “auto piloting” in the human sphere ensures that our …
What exactly is a job? A person could work a lifetime without ever explicitly considering such a question. But its importance should not be underestimated, for actions are guided and shaped (as well as constrained and limited) by below-the-line understandings of what one is actually doing day after day. In the most basic formulation, a job could be described simply …