Enjoy monthly reads, reflections, and thoughts from our wisdom filled team.
What if one small token could remind a leader of their greatest responsibility? During my tenure as CEO, I challenged our senior leaders to do something simple but profound — to pause, reflect, and intentionally thank those who helped shape them into the leaders they had become. Read on to discover the story behind the Wooden Nickel and ask yourself: Who do you need to thank?
AI is a tool. It enhances human effort and effectiveness – it is not yet a wholesale replacement for human workers, with some exceptions. I have studied AI for at least a half-dozen years, reading something AI-related nearly every single day. Why? Because it is ubiquitous. Every organization and executive leader I engage with is talking about this subject. They are determining or delivering AI-related strategy and from my research and analysis, I know that strategy must include the human‑to‑machine interface – with a human‑first approach.
Drawing on years of research and readings across leading business, technology and organizational frameworks (such as Gartner, McKinsey, Harvard, etc.), I have identified five factors – what I call the five “Ps” – that every organization, public or private, for profit or non-profit, must consider when implementing AI. They are: Purpose, People, Policy, Process, and Platform.
AI is a tool. It enhances human effort and effectiveness – it is not yet a wholesale replacement for human workers, with some exceptions. I have studied AI for at least a half-dozen years, reading something AI-related nearly every single day. Why? Because it is ubiquitous. Every organization and executive leader I engage with is talking about this subject. They are determining or delivering AI-related strategy and from my research and analysis, I know that strategy must include the human‑to‑machine interface – with a human‑first approach.
Drawing on years of research and readings across leading business, technology and organizational frameworks (such as Gartner, McKinsey, Harvard, etc.), I have identified five factors – what I call the five “Ps” – that every organization, public or private, for profit or non-profit, must consider when implementing AI. They are: Purpose, People, Policy, Process, and Platform. In this two-part series, we will explore all five. Today, we begin with Purpose and People.
As a leader, words, actions, and even silence carry weight. Your team will scrutinize everything you say and how you say it. Understanding the root causes of miscommunication and addressing them proactively is a skill separating effective leaders from the rest. The second part of this series will focus on internal communication breakdowns - examining how personal barriers, unchecked assumptions, and unintentional listening habits shape what is heard, interpreted, and acted upon.
As a leader, words, actions, and even silence carry weight. Your team will scrutinize everything you say and how you say it. Understanding the root causes of miscommunication and addressing them proactively is a skill separating effective leaders from the rest. The first part of this series will focus on external communication breakdowns - what is being conveyed and how it is delivered.
Ceaseless meetings, the era of a distributed workforce, and the task saturation of leaders have driven an overreliance on email as the first step in building relationships. While email is a good tool for broadcasting information and quick collaboration, it is not a relationship building tool. In this article, we’ll explore how stepping away from email and instead, implementing and sustaining recurring one-on-one meetings will create the clarity, alignment, and collaboration required to deliver meaningful outcomes.
Succession is going to happen in your organization whether you plan for it or not. People take other positions, retire, or quit. Unexpected turnover can generate significant capacity shortfalls, lost knowledge, and talent misalignments that disrupt or derail organizations. The organizations that execute effective succession plans fare much better than those that don’t. It is the responsibility of senior leaders, with the support of human resource professionals, to create and execute succession plans.
