The Angles of Leadership: A Work in Progress

The Angles of Leadership: A Work in Progress

I’ve been wondering recently whether most leaders, especially executive leaders, are actually faking it. They assume a leadership title, adopt a leadership demeanor, weave phrases like vision, mission, EBITDA, supply chain, and market forces into conversations and are...
How to Make Culture & Values Concrete

How to Make Culture & Values Concrete

Recently, I was working with a client who had taken over as CEO for an organization that was largely dysfunctional.  There had been no common drumbeat around values, mission, or vision, and she was running around trying to course-correct everybody and get them moving...
Conversations With Your Pre-CEO Self

Conversations With Your Pre-CEO Self

In my conversations with various CEOs in the life science industry, I’ve found lately that the same question has been coming up: if you could go back and pull your younger self aside for a few minutes, what would you tell them? What would you say to your pre-CEO self?...
Getting to the Heart of it 

Getting to the Heart of it 

Why CEOs Must Care About the Heart in Leadership Logic, analytics, and level-headedness all have an important place in leadership; however, a leader who operates entirely from the head will ultimately limit the growth of her organization. This is because culture is...
Your Values are The Bottom Line

Your Values are The Bottom Line

There are two incredibly important types of conversations leaders must continually have within the organization: the What, and the How conversations.  When organizations are stretched thin, and when leaders are feeling stressed, out of control, or unclear about the...
The Secret Backbone of Your Organization

The Secret Backbone of Your Organization

“Culture and values get attention, but not as the actual backbone of your organization.” – Francois Nader Culture and values in companies tend to be looked at as a branding thing. We put together values so we can have an image of the brand, a way of marketing it that...