See if you can quickly answer these questions: What would happen if one of your key leaders went away? What if your most prized client left? What if your system was hacked? What if everybody from an entire line of service suddenly quit? What if there was a fire and the building burned down? What if there was an event that took out your communications for the next three days? In any of these events, do you know what the next step would be? It’s natural if you don’t because – a

9/11. The Titanic sinking. The fall of the Soviet Union. Did anyone see any of these events coming? Doubtful. That’s why these and others like them are referred to as “Black Swan” events. A Black Swan has three characteristics: It is unprecedented in human history It is a totally unexpected event Its impact on society is major Only well after the event occurs that in hindsight we hear people around us say, “Well, it was probably bound to happen.” That may or may not be true,

When a new CEO comes into the organization, the expectations are so grandiose that the person might as well ride in dressed as a knight on a white horse. If you’ve ever joined a company in a highly visible role like this, it’s not unusual to feel an air that you’re going to come in and do great things from the likes of board members, employees, customers and others closely connected to the company. All the pressure is at your back. Your confidence is at an all-time high. This

In my recent post, “The 5 Scariest Words A CEO Can Say,” I touched on why “I can do it myself” is one of the most dangerous statements a leader can utter. It means they can’t delegate, don’t know their own strengths (and weaknesses) and due to their responsibilities, it’s a very safe bet that important initiatives won’t get addressed in a prompt fashion the way they should. On top of those 5 scary words, however, there are 5 convenient excuses that leaders make, creating self

When you ask practitioners why they retain you, I’ll bet sooner or later they’ll say something like “He/she has such expertise.” It seems to be a normal enough compliment at a glance, right? But let’s be honest here. In the landscape of professional service firms, expertise is such a given. It’s not a benefit. It’s an expectation. And firms that tout their expertise are essentially saying, “Trust us. We can actually perform these services because we’ve been around long enough

​ When I was working at SC Johnson, one of my managers had a marvelous way of making hard decisions seem easy. I didn’t always agree with those decisions, but I had to respect her ability to make them consistently and with confidence. One day, I asked her if there was anything special she did in order to work through her toughest decisions. She said that she always asked herself the following four questions: Is it the “right thing” to do for the person / am I being fair to th