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Leadership Lessons from Underdogs
Snow Storm: Hannibal Crossing the Alps by Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1812 (Wikipedia - public domain)“When a humble and much inferior combatant is matched against a celebrated and seemingly...
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Just Shut. Your Big. Mouth.
The Travelling Quack (detail), by Tom Merry, 1889 (Wellcome Collection - CC BY 4.0)“I will begin to speak when I have that to say which had not better be unsaid.” — Cato the YoungerYou don’t have to...
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Mind Over Matter
The Gulf Stream by Winslow Homer, 1899 (The Met - public domain) “The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that we ought to control our thoughts. ”— Charles Darwin, 1871Last...
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What You're Missing By Constantly Running
Whirling Dervishes by Jean Baptiste Vanmour, c. 1720-1737 (Rijksmuseum - public domain CC 1.0)“Beware the barrenness of a busy life.”— SocratesThe span of the last ten days in my household has been a...
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The Blame or Fault Is Yours
Allies Liberate France: D-Day 1944 by Robert Huffstutter (Flickr - CC BY 2.0)“Life is divided into three periods: past, present, and future. Of these, the present is short, the future is doubtful, the...
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Being a Leader Means Having a Moral Conscience
Landscape with Mountain Lake, Morning by Caspar David Friedrich, 1823-35 (Wikipedia - public) “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”— Irene Dunne, 1945Everywhere you look,...
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To Hope Is to Believe
La commedia illumina Firenze by Domenico di Michelino, 1465 (Wikipedia - public domain)“To suffer woes which Hope thinks infinite;To forgive wrongs darker than death or night;To defy Power, which...
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The Empty Chair
The Bedroom by Vincent Van Gogh, 1889. Original from the Art Institute of Chicago. Digitally enhanced by rawpixel. (Wikipedia - CC BY-SA 4.0) “I swear to the LordI still can’t seeWhy Democracy...
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The Heavy Burden of Anger
Anger (Ira) from The Seven Deadly Sins by Pieter van der Heyden, after Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1558 (Wikimedia Commons - public domain)“There is no more stupefying thing than anger, nothing more...
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How to Build Accountability
Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1503 – 1516 (Wikipedia - public domain)“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”— Ralph Waldo EmersonYou’ve heard (or read) that Emerson quote...
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Leaders Need to Share a Compelling Vision
The Creation of Adam from the Sistine Chapel Ceiling, by Michelangelo, 1508-1512 (Wikipedia - public domain)“For I dipp’d into the future, far as human eye could see,Saw the vision of the world, and...
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A Larger Way of Looking at Leadership
David McCullough greets the Main Stage crowd at the National Book Festival, August 31, 2019. (Shawn Miller/Library of Congress - public domain)“Public virtue cannot exist in a Nation without private...
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Leadership and Contintuity
Photograph of the National Archives Building Constitution Avenue Entrance Portico and Pediment (National Archives Catalog - unrestricted use)“Trying to plan for the future without a sense of the past...
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Stop Fearing Failure
Shipwreck off Nantucket (Wreck off Nantucket after a Storm) by William Bradford, c. 1860-61 (The Met - public domain) “If we should fail?”“We fail?But screw your courage to the sticking-place,And we’ll...
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First Days
Recapturing those inspiring feelings“Education never ends, Watson. It is a series of lessons with the greatest for the last.”— Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1911There’s something about First Days, whether...
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Leaders Must Acknowledge Hard Truths
Caring deeply requires honesty“It is one thing to show a man that he is in error, and another to put him in possession of truth.”— John Locke, 1690If you’ve been following along here, you know that my...
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The Last to Know
Lasts are coming for all of us. Why aren’t we preparing?“I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark.”— Thomas Hobbes, 1679When’s the last time you pondered the word last?Its use is...
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The Sound of Silence
It can be deafening“I will begin to speak when I have that to say which had not better be unsaid.”— Cato the YoungerI’ve been thinking a lot about silence lately.It was prompted by the scene during...
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Leaders Need to Be Challenged
No sycophants need apply “Without contraries is no progression. Attraction and repulsion, reason and energy, love and hate, are necessary to human existence.”— William Blake, 1790Speaking truth to...
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Looking Outward While Looking Inward
Leaders need to balance self-awareness with external competition“The chief proof of man’s real greatness lies in his perception of his own smallness.”— Arthur Conan Doyle, 1890“Alan, what kind of car...
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Why Do Leaders Encourage Questions?
Something we should be asking ourselves“Bad men live that they may eat and drink, whereas good men eat and drink that they may live.”— Socrates, c. 430 BCDid you ever notice how the best leaders ask a...
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When Fear Works ― and When it Doesn't
Leadership is about inspiration, not intimidation“We promise according to our hopes, and perform according to our fears.”― La Rochefoucauld, 1664Have you ever felt real fear?Like the kind of fear that...
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It's the Relationships, Stupid
If you look upon your work and despair, then place your attention on the people who matter.“The chief proof of man’s real greatness lies in his perception of his own smallness.” — Sir Arthur Conan...
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It CAN Happen Here
It is happening here.“All men would be tyrants if they could.”— Daniel Defoe, 1712There are moments in history when speaking up matters — when remaining silent is no longer an option.And this is one of...
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It’s Not What You Say, But How You Say It
Match your content with your intent“My strength is the strength of ten,Because my heart is pure.”— Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1842Did you ever plan a conversation in your mind, carefully mapping out your...
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