A friend shared a graphic circulating on LinkedIn that claims to explain "Leadership Balance Under Pressure." They inquired whether the advice or approach is any good, or if it was what I like to call "pop-leadership." That's a great question. For clarity, the graphic features four animals arranged in a 2x2 quadrant. High assertiveness with low compassion makes you a Shark, fast and results-focused. High assertiveness with high compassion makes...
Helping isn't always helping. A video circulating on LinkedIn (and other social media) demonstrates the point. Indeed, it has been praised as a heartwarming moment between a father and his daughter. And sure, it looks like that on the surface. However, if you watch it through the eyes of reason, it tells a very different story. Allow me to set the stage. A little girl is trying to learn how to hula-hoop. She is struggling. The hoop keeps...
It Might Not Be the Leader. When an organization underperforms, the instinct is to look at the leader. Change the leader, change the outcomes. Sure, it is a clean diagnosis, and it is usually wrong, or at least incomplete. The problem in most underperforming organizations is not that the leader lacks skill, intelligence, or even vision. The problem is what the leader has made themselves the center of. Leader-centric organizations are...
The Case for Practitioners Who Do What AI Cannot The Landscape Has Changed Reasoned Leadership is no longer an option; it is the solution. Artificial intelligence is no longer just approaching the leadership development industry; it is now part of it. It has arrived. AI coaching platforms now offer 24/7 personalized feedback, sentiment analysis, structured development plans, and real-time communication coaching at a fraction of the cost of a...
Leadership theory is undergoing a structural transformation that many people have yet to recognize. For nearly a century, the field has relied on narrative-driven frameworks that describe leadership in terms of traits, styles, or inspirational behaviors. These approaches were simple to teach and widely marketable, but they were never built to explain how leadership actually works. As complexity increases and cognitive bias becomes more...
Publius Cornelius Tacitus once wrote that “the desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.” His observation raises an important question about whether leaders can pursue growth while remaining preoccupied with security. Organizational history suggests the tension is real, but a recent computational test offered a remarkable demonstration of the same dynamic. During an AI simulation of the Adversity Nexus Theory,...
The Novice Factor is one of the most destructive forces in leadership and organizational development. It exists on two levels. On the individual level, it essentially describes the tendency of inexperienced people to overestimate their competence in a particular area; this phenomenon is known as the Dunning–Kruger effect. On the institutional level, it describes the proliferation of amateur leadership development programs led by...
In recent months, a concerning pattern has emerged: organizations are reducing or eliminating Learning and Development (L&D) roles. While a single layoff may seem routine, the broader pattern signals a deeper strategic problem. These decisions are occurring in a labor market already strained by accelerated retirements, shortened tenure cycles, and persistent turnover. The effect is cumulative, and the long-term cost could far exceed the...
In discussions of success and leadership, persistence and consistency are often used interchangeably, as though they mean the same thing. But they don’t. Be very careful what you push and be mindful of what you ask for. You might very well be inadvertently leading your people to stagnation and decline. Persistence is the drive to continue forward despite obstacles, while consistency has two distinct meanings: the mechanical repetition of...
We all like to believe we are logical, reasonable people. We make decisions based on facts, carefully weigh our options, and adjust our behaviors when things don't work out. Or at least, that's what we tell ourselves. But if that were true, why do so many of us struggle to break bad habits, correct our thinking, or genuinely change our behavior? The answer lies in the way we process information. Most people aren't chasing accuracy—they're...
