Category Archives: Uncategorized

The day before I had flown from Brussels, connecting through Newark, on to Cincinnati for a meeting the next day. My morning was free, so I went to get a haircut. The TV was on and suddenly there was breaking news. It broke our hearts and changed our lives. It was September 11. In theContinue reading “Resilience”

Recently, I was interviewed by Business Day, a leading publication in Nigeria, when I was in Lagos to speak at the West Africa Business Leaders Summit. The full article (no paywall) can be found here. An excerpt is below. They asked me the following question: “As a former CEO of a multinational organisation with operationsContinue reading “3 Things I Learned as CEO”

Recently, Business Day, a leading publication in Nigeria, interviewed me when I was in Lagos to speak at the West Africa Business Leaders Summit. The full article (no paywall) can be found here. An excerpt is below. Business Day: “What one piece of advice would you offer individuals in critical leadership positions of businesses inContinue reading “Leadership Paradoxes: Clear, Consistent, Steadfast AND Open, Ready to Change”

When a large group of business leaders shows up on a Friday evening (without drinks being served), highly engaged and ready to invest in their growth as leaders, it’s inspiring. That’s exactly what happened recently in Romania’s city of Cluj-Napoca. It is a city to invest in, with its large and growing IT sector, excellentContinue reading “Romania”

Our circumstances often make progress and success difficult. If we fall short, the temptation is to point to our circumstances as reasons why (“We fell short because…”). But good leadership is about “despite”, not “because”.   The reality is that bad things happen. Even if the bad things are unknown when we begin the effort, weContinue reading “Despite, not Because”

Confidence is inspiring. Humility is endearing.  Confidence helps others believe in us in the absence of certainty. In fact, confidence also helps us to believe in ourselves in the absence of certainty.  Humility helps us to see how and when to put the team’s interests ahead of our own self interest. An Aussie named JohnContinue reading “Leadership Paradoxes: Confidence and Humility”

Good leaders ask good questions. Questions (as opposed to statements) signal a willingness to listen. They convey values and reinforce desired behaviors. They foster learning. But what is the best question for a leader to ask?  It’s a question that we ask ourselves (not others) when we are faced with an especially difficult challenge orContinue reading “The Best Question for a Leader to Ask”

The Global Leadership Summit took place on August 8-9, 2019, attended by over 100,000 people at over 100 sites all across North America. In the coming months, another 250,000+ people will attend rebroadcasts of the Summit at hundreds of sites in 130+ countries around the world. 2019 is the 25th year of the Summit (andContinue reading “Highlights from the 2019 Global Leadership Summit”

Diversity is crucial to an organization’s growth, strength, and ability to innovate. There are other very good arguments for diversity (social justice, for instance), too, but let’s focus for the moment just on business outcomes. Diverse teams and organizations outperform teams with less diversity.  During my time as the CEO of Nielsen, we set outContinue reading “The Value of Diversity to an Organization’s Results”