Most executive coaching fails because it starts with tools. A model on a slide, a personality test, a workbook of techniques — addition, addition, addition, stacked on top of a leader who has never once been shown an accurate picture of himself. The industry sells...
“Just be yourself” became a billion-dollar instruction. Walk through any leadership conference and count the keynotes on authenticity. Watch the CEO who rehearses his “spontaneous” vulnerability story three times with his communications team...
The offsite worked. For a weekend, at least. The speaker was electric, the flip charts were full, the commitments were sincere. And by Thursday the glow was gone — the calendar reasserted itself, the inbox flooded back, and the executive who swore on Friday to listen...
Every senior leader knows the moment. The data is incomplete and will stay incomplete. The two proposals left on the table differ more in adjectives than in outcomes. Legal has flagged both. The room has stopped debating and started watching — because the only thing...
We keep mistaking silence for health. I am regularly invited into organizations that their boards describe as harmonious. The meetings run on time. Nobody raises their voice. The engagement survey glows a polite green. And within two days I can usually tell you what...
A chairman once asked me why every COO he hired turned out to be political. Three appointments in five years; each arrived a straight shooter and left a schemer. “Why on earth do I keep attracting these people?” Wrong question. The right one: what is it in...
