“At the height of the 2008 financial crisis, these four corporate leaders stepped forward—and changed how we think of leadership forever,” so writes Bill George in a column of the January 14th issue of Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge, Business Research for Business Leaders, titled ‘These 4 CEOs Created a New Standard of Leadership’. The […]
Read MoreA Noble Leader?

We recently watched the heart-warming celebrations of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush’s life. After the ceremonies, Chris Mathews on MSNBC called Bush “a noble leader”. Indeed, he had all the qualities of a noble leader, such as Serving a HIGHER PURPOSE than just self; Being KIND to everyone he met; (Matthews recalled the […]
Read MoreMiraculous landing – Noble Leader?
By now you’ve probably heard about this miraculous landing, described in this article by NBC News. Caring” is not usually a word used in describing a great (i.e., successful) leader. But there it is right there in this article. The article is about the former Navy Pilot who “landed” Southwest Airlines Flight #1380, bound from […]
Read MoreLeadership Success: Two Stories with Opposing Views
An old TRUTH: Business is built on a foundation of TRANSACTIONS. Accountants see the health of those transactions as determining business success. Revenues are the sum of sales transactions. On the other side of the equation are expenses, and those are seen too as transactions. So also with investments. Get those transactions (sometimes called “deals”) […]
Read MoreThe Power of WORDS – Especially from the Leader
A colleague (Ken Bardach) and I are working on a book called The Noble Leader. The project involves identifying and surveying leaders we think are noble leaders. We intend to use the results of that survey to provide inspiring examples of Noble Leadership for the book. We have over 40 candidates on our list and […]
Read More“View from the Top” overlooks the HR officer.
C”X”O’s share their views of the pressing issues facing business and their companies in a recent WSJ article. My question: Where is HR? Both in terms of people challenges and in terms of the function that runs the people side of the business: the HR professional. The article is actually a whole section of the […]
Read MoreWhom does your Company Serve?
“We’re celebrating ten years. Thank you to our customers who have made this possible.” Sign in a restaurant in Connecticut But don’t forget another constituency that is fast becoming a company’s most important constituency to serve, because of its power to help a company to grow profitably!
Read More“REPAIRING Capitalism” Creating a new “Business Model” for Today’s Reality
Businesses, especially large corporations, are held in low esteem by the public – and that was even before the financial meltdown during which the US government bailed out many big financial institutions while the public watched. This does not bode well for business long term – in attracting talent, in attracting customers and keeping them […]
Read MoreCan an “Ordinary” Business be NOBLE and Successful? Here’s one that’s done it “in spades”!
When people hear about “Noble Enterprise”, they often think, “Well, that would certainly be nice, but not in our business, not in our industry.” They think it too lofty a goal that can’t be reached because Reality interferes – the need to sell to demanding customers without losing your shirt, the need to control waste […]
Read More ethical values, higher purpose, holistic mindset, noble enterpriseTurn Your BUSINESS MODEL Upside Down: It may Revitalize your Business – and Your Leadership!
With a New Year starting, it’s a great time to step back from your business and take a fresh look at something most business leaders take for granted or seldom work on – your “business model.” What is your company’s business model – and how’s it working for you? I don’t mean its strategy – […]
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