What are your suggestions for assessing the capabilities of the U.S. Presidential candidates?

The current Presidential primary season has dramatically illustrated the unrealistic expectations that are being placed upon today’s political leaders.

For a second, let’s assume that the three remaining major candidates for President are basically good people, who want to do what they believe is right for our country. Let’s assume that all are intelligent and have no desire to gratuitously offend voters.

Not only are all of their words being scrutinized for the slightest hint of bad intent or stupidity, the words of all their supporters are also being scrutinized. Any deviation from politically correct responses (from either the candidates or their supporters) are being used to indicate that the candidates may well be closet racists or sexists. Any lack of knowledge in answering questions is leaped on to indicate that they may well be incompetents. Read more »

The leaders in our company are participating in a 360º feedback process. How should I respond to feedback from my co-workers?

The key to helping you turn 360º feedback into meaningful behavioral change is for you to follow-up with your co-workers. Shortly after reviewing your feedback I would suggest the following guidelines for responding to your feedback with each of your co-workers:

• Thank them for participating in the coaching process. Take the time to acknowledge the value of them time. Express gratitude for their input.
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What advice do you have for CEOs and founders about “letting go” of leadership?

When your successor is ready to assume the role of leadership, you need to be ready to do something that can be extremely difficult – you need to leave.

You may be tempted by board members to stay on the board or perhaps become the non- executive chairman. If you really want your successor to be the CEO, fight this temptation. I know of a few cases where this model has worked well. It often doesn’t. Read more »

I have read that you are a Buddhist. How does your Buddhist philosophy impact your work with executives?

Let me give you one example of how I have tried to use Buddha’s teaching in my work. Buddha suggested that his followers only do what he taught if it worked in the context of their own lives. He encouraged people to listen to his ideas, think about his suggestions, try out what made sense – keep doing what worked – and to just “let go” of what did not work.

Similarly, I teach my clients to ask their key stakeholders for suggestions on they can become more effective leaders then listen to these ideas, think about the suggestions, try out what makes sense – keep doing what works – and let go of what does not.

When our stakeholders give us suggestions on how we can become more effective, we can look at these suggestions as gifts – and treat our stakeholders as gift-givers. When someone gives you a gift you wouldn’t say, “Stinky gift!” “Bad gift!” or “I already have this stupid gift!” You would say, “Thank you.”

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I make a good living, but am far from rich. My 17 year-old son is starting to look at colleges and careers. Any advice for me as a parent to help him on school or career selection?

I believe that this is a tough time to be a 17 year-old in the United States. It’s not uncommon for graduates from middle-class families to leave college with $30,000-$50,000 in student-loan debt. Graduates from professional schools are often looking at over $100,000 in debt.

For graduates of elite schools in professional fields, this debt is not a problem. MBAs from Harvard and Lawyers from Yale are easily going to be able to pay off their debts. For others, this debt can be a huge problem. Graduates with degrees in history from small liberal arts schools may not be able to pay off their debts until they are in their 40’s. Read more »

So much has been written about ways to achieve goals. Are there times when goal achievement can do more harm than good?

Goal obsession is one of the greatest problems that I encounter in my interactions with successful people. Goal obsession occurs when we become so focused on achieving our goal (or task) that we forget our larger mission.

Let me give you an example from Wall Street. “Mike” was always complaining because he worked too hard. When I asked him why he worked so hard, he replied, “Why do you think? Do you think that I love this place? I am working so hard because I want to make a lot of money!”

I continued my inquiry, “Do you really need this much money?” Read more »

My post for January 21, “When Should You Keep Your Ideas to Yourself?” has led to an amazing discussion from readers around the world. If you haven’t had a chance to review these comments, please check them out. There are lots of interesting reflections and good ideas. If you submitted a comment or question for me, you can check out my response.

The great response to this post has inspired me to share a related question that I have posed to thousands of leaders from around the world: What percent of all interpersonal communication time in your organization is spent on these two dialogues?

- People talking about how smart, special, or wonderful they are (or listening while others do this).

- People talking about how stupid, bad, or inept someone else is (or listening while others do this).

The answers are very revealing. The average score from thousands of leaders around the world is about 60%. I have done this in North America, Asia and Europe. The results are surprisingly consistent.

What a waste of time!

How much do we learn when we are talking about how smart we are? Nothing. Read more »

We are a company that was formed through several mergers. While we talk a lot about “synergy” and “cross-organizational teamwork,” we don’t seem to do a lot to make this happen. Any suggestions?

The number one reason for mergers is synergy – which will, hopefully, lead to more profitability. If there is no “1+1=3” effect in joining with another organization, why bother to do it?

In spite of seemingly great synergy, many mergers fail. The main cause of failure in not bad strategic fit, it is the lack of integration of people and culture. Your question is critical – not only to the success of companies formed through mergers – but to almost all huge, global corporations. Read more »