Duty

Duty is not a concept we discuss much these days. With the passing of Queen Elizabeth II of England this week, her example of duty to god and country has been widely honored, and seen as the passing of an era. Did the concept of duty pass with her? Duty was what got her generation […]

Take too long?

Is this you? You take too long to make a decision. You get anxious that you don’t have all the necessary data. You feel great pressure to make the perfect choice. You enjoy researching the options more than actually choosing which one to go with? You agonize about the consequence of a bad choice. If […]

Mulally is Magic

Friday, Vistage launched a one hour interview by Sam Reese, Vistage’s CEO, with Alan Mulally who led Boeing for many profitable years and then turned around Ford Motor Company. Watch it today if you are in the Vistage community. Mulally is Magic.

Miscalculations

This has been a week of unbelievable, sad, scary and very public miscalculations. The Ukrainians bought Putin’s claim that he wouldn’t invade. Big miscalculation.  Putin miscalculated the resolve of the Ukrainian people and the unity and the resolve of NATO. The consequences will be death, destruction and a reordering of the whole world order. At […]

Your “team one”

It made sense when Patrick Lencioni said it, and it made sense when I read it in The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team 20 years ago, but it still is not common business practice. Your executive leadership team – the CEO and your peers,  must be your “team one”, not your division or your direct reports. […]

Are you the CWO* of your company?

Many CEO’s that I work with as a Vistage Chair have a different reality from the title they show on their business cards. I call it the CWO- Chief “Whack-a-Mole” Officer.

Plan tight, process loose

Nora notepad

On Wednesday evening, Paul asked me what we are doing this weekend. Like many couples there is a planner and a spontaneous one, and you can guess who is who in our dynamic. I replied that I was planning to be sick this weekend. What???? I was getting the COVID booster Friday afternoon, so, yes, […]

Leadership advice from Colin Powell

General Colin Powell, former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke to my 3 Vistage groups this week and the take-aways were fantastic. Well actually, it was a pre-recorded interview with Vistage CEO Sam Reese that we watched at home and discussed at the meetings. But still, the take-aways were […]

“Servant” Leadership

Nora Paller BizPie Blog

I am a big fan of servant leadership, so I was quite interested in reading “The Motive” by Patrick Lencioni. This is his new book and it is about Leadership. According to Lencioni, all great leadership is servant leadership so it is time to drop the adjective: servant.

Depends on how you look at it…

Living in an area with mature trees is a real pleasure, especially during the hot days of summer. Look at the palm trees in the picture. They are over 60 feet tall. Notice the ivy climbing all the way to the top? That is pretty unusual. Is it a good thing, or a bad thing? […]