This is one of the interviews for my "Leadership Biz Cafe" podcast that I couldn't wait to share - my interview with Stanford professor and all-around great guy, Bob Sutton. Bob is an organizational psychologist, Stanford professor, and best-selling author of “The No Asshole Rule”, “Good Boss, Bad Boss”, and “Scaling Up Excellence”. My conversation with Bob revolved around his latest book, “The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder”, and this simple question - why are some organizations able to effortlessly adapt and transform to meeting ..read more

The arrival of Spring often brings to mind the idea of renewal and new beginnings. And it’s not surprising when we see trees waking from their winter slumber to transform their spindly branches into luscious clouds of green foliage.   Or when we see spring flowers like tulips emerge from the ground, erupting into this dazzling display of bright yellows, reds, oranges, and whites.   But there’s another common sight that evokes the arrival of Spring – the Canada geese flying in their distinctive V-formation across the sky.   Watching this seasonal migration happen from my backyard ..read more

There’s no question that being an effective communicator is critical to succeeding at leadership. But as my guest in this episode of my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast points out, a leader’s ability to express the right kind of appreciation to their employees is key to driving employee growth and success.   Dr. Paul White is a psychologist, author, and speaker who “makes work relationships work.” His work has been featured in Business Week, CNN, Entrepreneur, Fast Company, Fortune, and the New York Times.   Along with Dr. Gary Chapman, Paul is the coauthor of the best-selling book, “Th ..read more

One of the common themes around leadership that I’m asked to speak on for a keynote or a corporate training workshop around is how can leaders create conditions that inspire employees to show up and deliver their best. As a point out in these talks, a key ingredient to making such conditions is defining a vision that helps to inspire purpose in your employees and with it, drive success over the long-term. So in this edition of my Leadership Espresso Shot series on my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast, I want to share two stories that reveal three critical steps leaders need to take to create a vis ..read more

“The real job of leadership is the chance to sincerely, passionately, excellently elevate human lives. And the best businesses are very mission-driven and purpose-centered.” This is just one of many brilliant and thoughtful insights Robin Sharma shares in this latest episode of my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast. I can’t tell you how excited I am to share this episode with you. When I started this podcast almost 14 years ago, I never thought I’d be speaking with someone like Robin Sharma about leadership. Robin is one of the top leadership and personal mastery experts in the world. In fact, many ..read more

I’ve spoken with many highly successful people over the course of career and there’s one interesting characteristic I’ve noticed they all share in common. Each of them exudes this quiet confidence about themselves and their abilities. And to repeat, not just confidence, but quiet confidence, meaning they don’t try to be the smartest person in the room or the one who gets all the attention. And yet, when they speak, you can sense this sense of assuredness and inner peace about who they are and what they can do. Naturally, most of us would love to be like these successful people – not just becau ..read more

When it comes to success, much of the focus tends to be on how do we go about being successful. We read books and watch documentaries about the lives of successful people in the hopes that we might better understand what allowed them to succeed in the hopes that we might achieve a similar result from our efforts. But a recent conversation with my daughter revealed something we don’t tend to think about when it comes to success and that is what lessons can we learn about ourselves when we succeed? That’s why in this edition of my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I share a story about how my dau ..read more

When it comes to diversity in today’s workplaces, understandably much of the focus is on systemic challenges members of various marginalized groups have to deal with. But as my guest in this episode of my Leadership Biz Cafe podcast points out, that doesn’t mean there aren’t measures Black professionals can take at the individual level so they can succeed and thrive in today’s corporate environment. Carice Anderson is a seasoned corporate leader and executive, having worked at numerous organizations including Deloitte, Korn Ferry, McKinsey & Company, Aon-Hewitt, and has worked with top com ..read more

How many of us would be happy knowing the high point of our career was that we were good at just getting through the day? Unfortunately, that’s the reality leaders need to recognize as the focus of today’s leadership becomes less and less about achieving long-term goals and more about just putting out fires and ‘getting things done’. While this certainly makes us look good from a day-to-day perspective, it also leaves us with little to point to as a true accomplishment and reflection of who we were and what we did as a leader. No doubt this is why biographies and stories of successful leaders ..read more

What do Uber, Apple, Netflix, and AirBnB share in common in terms of the successes they’ve achieved? According to my guest in this episode of my Leadership Biz Cafe podcast, what these and other successful companies share in common is that they’re all experience disruptors. And he has a framework based on studies in consumer behaviour, behavioural psychology, and marketing analytics that can help any organization become their own version of an experience disruptor. Allen Adamson is an expert in branding, experience creation, and innovation strategy. Over the course of his career, he’s worked a ..read more