Insights: Communication

Leading Change in the Age of AI
A technology executive recently said to me, “What we’re going through right now is like the industrial revolution. But instead of taking 100 years, it’s going to happen in 10 years.” Another shared that given the rate of change in AI, decisions that used to be made in months are now being made in weeks—or […]

The Power of Influence: Increase Your Confidence and Persuasion
In my last post, I looked at the importance of connection and inspiration. Today, let’s look at how great leaders actively manage their level of confidence and use all the tools of persuasive communication. Manage your self-confidence. Leaders who feel confident within themselves are more likely to engage others, speak out, and take the risks […]

The Power of Influence: Connect and Inspire
In my last post, I looked at the importance of integrity for creating influence. Today, I turn our attention to how great leaders connect and inspire others. In my experience, there are four key elements. Cultivate key relationships. We are influenced most by people we like and trust. Particularly if you have moved into a […]

The Power of Influence: Know Yourself and Your Audience
Influence is so basic to good leadership that in some sense the words are interchangeable. To influence someone is to lead them, and to lead someone requires persuasive influence. Yet even in the senior echelons of executive leadership, there is often a need to improve influence skills. Many successful CEOs and C-level leaders would benefit […]

How to Communicate Your Vision So It Sticks
Communicating your vision is the single most important task of leadership. Done well, it provides your organization with an inspiring, enticing, motivating picture of what you can all achieve together. Why is it, then, that in so many organizations the vision doesn’t reach into the hearts and minds of all employees? And how can you […]

The Art of the CEO Deep Dive
As CEO, do you really know what’s happening in your company? That may sound like a strange question. You would think CEOs would have a bird’s-eye view and be deeply informed. But no. In reality, most CEOs inhabit a bubble where the stakeholders around them exquisitely manage the information they can see. CEOs have to […]

It’s All About Trust: Building a Leadership Team That Meets Today’s Challenges
The higher you go in an organization, the less insulated you are from the realities of the world. Given the unprecedented volatility all around us and the centrifugal forces within companies, leadership teams are facing extreme pressure. Some senior executives we’ve worked with have left the workforce entirely, and it’s unclear if or when they […]