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Do Your Leader Vacuums Need a Cleaning? – Original draft

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David Harper
“Nature abhors a vacuum.” The quote is often attributed to Aristotle, the Greek philosopher (and student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great) who lived from 384 to 322 BC. The quote has nothing to do with your carpets or your Hoover, Electrolux, or Dyson. Aristotle was talking about voids in space, places that are empty of matter, empty of “stuff”. Aristotle felt that true perfect vacuums, or voids,…

How Big is Your Blind Spot? – Original draft

person
David Harper
So now another high-profile male political figure has come clean about his lack of integrity. The past couple of years have been busy ones: from Spitzer and Edwards, to Kilpactrick, Ensign, and now Sanford. ABC News even has a web site devoted to “Politicians Who Cheat”: There’s 17 featured in all, all male (but that’s a subject for a different 60-Second Email™). One question that has come to my mind…

I’m No Susan Boyle or Captain Kirk

person
David Harper
One clear impact of this recession is that people, businesses, and leaders are getting back to basics. People are questioning, and in some cases are being forced to question, what’s important in their lives. Businesses are examining their business models, delineating between what used to work in the past, from what must work in the future. Leaders are focusing on performance now more than ever. Their staff and resources have…

Leadership Lessons from The Economic Meltdown

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David Harper
Issue:  Corporate Extravagance & Excess during an Economic Crisis Leadership Lesson: Values flow from the top.  Period.  People grow numb listening to platitudes and well worn speeches.  Look at what you say and how you act on a daily basis.  What would your employees say about your integrity:  “No question, he/she’s got” or “She/he likes a more flexible truth”?  Put what you regularly say and do on YouTube for all…

What You Learn by Playing Poker

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David Harper
In this post, I interview my friend and colleague Bob Silverstein (organizational crisis and change consultant), who discusses the practical applications of studying and playing No Limit Texas Hold ’em poker. Bob, please tell us about your professional background. I’m a clinical social worker and consultant with over 25 years of experience as a crisis manager, organizational change consultant, employee counselor and executive coach.  Currently I work primarily in a…

Experience is Teaching, Now.

person
David Harper
In the last post, I cited the work of Lombardo and Eichinger in discussing the type of experiences that lead to significant personal development.  These experiences have four qualities in common: 1)  You know very little about the experience as you go into it. 2)  You have to make a difference. 3)  You feel a chance of significant failure. 4)  You feel a tremendous amount of pressure. I realized, however,…

Fear: Maybe not a Friend, but a Reliable Companion

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David Harper
This past weekend at a local conference, I delivered a presentation on overcoming barriers to effective talent development.  I also had the chance to attend other presentations too.  At one, the facilitator split the room into sections, and labeled each one with a specific emotion.  He then asked people to stand in the section that best described the atmosphere in their company.  Would it be surprising to say that 70…

How Will You Be Successful in 2009?

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David Harper
Woody Allen Okay, so are we all glad that 2008 is almost over?  If you’re reading this, I congratulate you for making it through a most challenging year. Woody Allen is quoted as saying “80% of success is showing up.”  I’d have to agree with him this year. If you showed up day after day, did your job as best you could, and didn’t give up, notwithstanding the insanity that was happening…

Are You Staying Relevant?

person
David Harper
My local dry cleaner’s specialty is breaking buttons. If your shirt has buttons, they will break them. Their 2-for-1 special is bring in two shirts, and we’ll break the buttons of at least one of them. In by 9:00, broken buttons by 5:00. Coming in a close second is burning collars. Don’t have ring-around-the-collar? No problem; we’ll burn one in for you. Consider it a shirt tattoo. Lastly, the icing…

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