Tag Archives: leadership

“The Checklist Manifesto” has a hold on me

By Steve | Published: January 30, 2012
My organization has a Leadership Forum every quarter for 300 to 400 managers and supervisors. I’ve helped plan and put on more than 30 of them now. For almost every one, there was drama with the slides. This dates back to when slides really were slides — the kind that went up on overheads. Let’s [...]
Posted in Book reviews, Organizational communication | Also tagged , , | Leave a comment

Inspiring words on MLK Day

By Steve | Published: January 16, 2012
I am inspired by quotes. My all-time favorite, Margaret Mead: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever does. Today, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the controversy over an out-of-context quote at his D.C. memorial allowed TV annd radio to replay one [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , | Leave a comment

How I trimmed 1,900 messages and never felt hungry!

By Steve | Published: August 23, 2010
I reduced my work inbox from 1,904 messages to zero over the weekend. I can’t tell you the peace of mind. Back about 1,800 inbox messages ago, I started to fret. The scrolling screens of red unread messages were my hamster wheel. A thousand inbox messages later, I felt symptoms of drowning each time I [...]
Posted in What I figured out | Also tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A book for resolve: Change or Die

By Steve | Published: January 1, 2010
Change or Die by Alan Deutschman was referred to me by a physician who is using its ideas to help her patients make life changes (thanks, Deb). It was an ideal read to usher in a new year, a new decade and a new phase in my career. Many of the change ideas were familiar to [...]
Posted in Book reviews, Leadership, Life, Organizational communication, Organizational culture | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Poet brings vision statement to life

By Steve | Published: December 23, 2009
Tears of pride welled up yesterday as I watched a corporate video. A corporate video! Diane Gage-Lofgren, our national VP of communications and PR, had asked a poet/performance artist  to bring life to our communication team’s new vision statement. A stroke of genius. I will forever have a visual and resonant image to add soul [...]
Posted in Applied stories, storytelling theory, Visual storytelling | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Filmmaker’s advice for great business storytelling

By Steve | Published: December 18, 2009
Filmmaker Peter Guber (Rainman, Batman, The Color Purple) once used storytelling to win Fidel Castro’s support for filming in Havana Harbor. The official application form had been torpedoed, but El Presidente enthusiastically endorsed the project once he heard Guber tell of the harbor’s historic significance and Castro’s responsibility to the world to share that piece of [...]
Posted in Applied stories, Excellent stories, storytelling theory | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The word for what I feel about Obama: Disappointed

By Steve | Published: November 29, 2009
I’m trying to be patient. But WTF: first we line up behind Russia and China in favor landmines, and now we’ll be escalating war? Tweet
Posted in Opinion | Also tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Health care reformer ahead of his time

By Steve | Published: November 22, 2009
Book review: The Story of Dr. Sidney R. Garfield by Tom Debley and Jon Stewart Sid Garfield’s plan for health care reform was so far ahead of its time that the organization he founded — Kaiser Permanente — still drives toward the vision, years after his death. (Disclosure: I am senior director of communications and [...]
Posted in Book reviews, Leadership | Also tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Why the flame is eternal

By Steve | Published: August 31, 2009
The Chicago Tribune’s John Kass writes that with the death of Teddy Kennedy, perhaps we can now put the Kennedy / Camelot myth to rest. Sorry, Mr. Kass. Myths don’t work that way. Did Jacqueline Kennedy and a fawning press create the myth? Kass makes a pretty good case for that. But no matter how [...]
Posted in Excellent stories, Opinion, storytelling theory | Also tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Tell ‘em what you did

By Steve | Published: April 2, 2009
While preparing this morning for a staff meeting, I delved into Google Analytics to see how many people had visited our new online magazine site. I was disappointed by the numbers. During the meeting, I decided to put the Analytics on the meeting room monitor and walk people through the steps I took to discover these [...]
Posted in Applied stories | Also tagged , | Leave a comment

  • Latest Tweets