29 Flawed Assumptions About Leadership

By Linda Fisher Thornton I was pruning shrubs this week and it occurred to me that we have many mistaken assumptions about leadership that can lead us to make bad choices. Those flawed assumptions are like the deadwood we prune away from our plants in the spring. ...If we don't prune regularly, the deadwood affects our growth and success.

What Variables Impact How Freely We Extend Trust?

By Linda Fisher Thornton The recent post Should Trust Be Freely Offered or Conditionally Earned? generated lively discussions in LinkedIn Groups about extending trust when we meet someone new. It was clear from the discussions that trust has many different dimensions, and that those dimensions are perceived differently by different people.

5 More Ways to Avoid the “Rightness” Trap

By Linda Fisher Thornton 5 More Ways to Avoid the "Rightness" Trap The comments kept coming! Here here are 5 More Ways to Avoid the "Rightness" Trap based on social media responses to Is Needing to Be "Right" Unethical? They are each illustrated here with quotes.

7 Reasons Ethics Matters in Brand Value

Customers shop globally now, and when they buy, they compare products more and more often based on ethics. In addition to shopping cautiously during the recession when money is tight, there's also a trend toward thinking about how each purchase impacts the global community and the planet.

What is Creativity?

What is Creativity? In the leadership development world, creativity is getting a great deal of attention now. But what is it? Can you learn it? Is it a skill? How do we lead in ways that encourage it? This post begins to answer those important leadership questions. When we explore the question "What is creativity?" from a thinking and learning point of view, an open and active mind is clearly required - one that can see new possibilities. But is there more to it than that? This post explores the variables that make up what we think of as "creativity."

Developing Globally Responsible Leaders

Laws serve as minimum standards for society, but responsible leadership requires that we go well beyond those minimum standards. As the leaders who will help shape the future of our businesses and our societies through small actions and big decisions, we need a global sense of responsibility. This post explores what it means to be a globally responsible leader and what kinds of learning opportunities help leaders develop a global sense of responsibility.

Leading Ethically Through Complexity: How to Prepare Leaders

Developing Business Leader Future In response to the post "Business Leader Future: A Sketch" Graham posted a question about how we support leaders who are learning to lead in the ways described in that post. ♦ Here are some of my thoughts on how to help business leaders lead ethically through the complexities of their role: