After conducting an in-depth study of seventy-two high-performing CEOs, Cornell University researchers reached a surprising conclusion. The key predictor of success for leaders wasn’t grit, focus, education, decision-making skills, a knack for strategic planning, or even IQ. It was self-awareness. Many experts would say self-awareness is simply the ability to monitor and regulate our thoughts, […]

Whether we know it or not, we all rely on a few basic strategies for moving through the social world. Different people adopt different strategies. Some try to be helpful and friendly; others aim for perfection. Some try to be attractive and productive, while knowledge is the goal for others. The problem is that most […]

When I was a young executive I had a level of stamina that was nearly supernatural. I could get locked onto a goal and not eat, not sleep, just stay focused on it until I achieved it. But as I recently told my friends Ian Cron and Suzanne Stabile on their excellent The Road Back […]

Leading others starts with leading ourselves. That means leaders must be be committed to personal development if we’re going to have long-term success. But some paths to personal development are more direct than others. My friend Ian Cron is both a priest and a therapist. He’s also an expert in the Enneagram, an ancient personal-development […]

I’m an assessment geek. I’m always looking to improve my own performance as well as my team’s. And I find measurement essential for upping our game. I first started using personality tests over a decade ago when I became the publisher of Nelson Books. It was a way for me to peek under the hood […]