Leadership Presence Is a Myth
Leadership Presence Is a Myth Leadership presence may be one of the most overrated ideas in leadership. For years we’ve been taught that influence comes from commanding a room, projecting confidence, and creating followership through charisma. I taught leadership presence myself, so I understand why the idea persists. But I’ve become less convinced that presence explains influence as well as we think it does. Some of the most influential leaders in history would score surprisingly low on executive presence assessments today and still changed behavior at extraordinary scale. That made me question whether people follow leaders because of how they appear or because of the beliefs they create....
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Past Issues
2026 Is the Year of Playing Offense
2026 Is the Year of Playing Offense Playing offense in 2026 requires a shift in how leaders think about momentum. It shows up in the belief systems...
Drive Results – With or Without Committees
Drive Results - With or Without Committees My newsletter on culture committees stirred up more reaction than anything I have written in months. Not...
My 2026 Predictions: Part Two
My 2026 Predictions: Part Two Two weeks ago I shared the first half of my 2026 predictions and today I am releasing the remaining five. These...
SHRM Is Forcing a Reckoning in HR
SHRM Is Forcing a Reckoning in HR The Business Insider “hit piece” last week reveals a lot… about the state of HR. What I saw was how uncomfortable...
Predictions For 2026
Predictions For 2026 2026 will not arrive quietly. The signals are already flashing and this year they begin to collide. What we predicted in 2025...
The Leadership Cost of ‘Needing to Know’
The Leadership Cost of ‘Needing to Know’ Last week we explored how uncertainty shifts leadership behavior. There is another response that often...
Leaders…Press Pause
Leaders...Press Pause This week, I have been reading Miracles of Love by Ram Dass while on vacation, and one idea keeps returning. He writes about...
The Death of the Culture Committee
The Death of the Culture Committee Culture committees came from a sincere place. They gave people a voice. They helped leaders show that listening...
When AI Fails, Accountability Still Belongs to Us
When AI Fails, Accountability Still Belongs to Us The new AI Safety Report from RAIDS AI Limited, shared with me by Nikolas Kairinos, analyzed more...
The Accountability Dilemma of Global Outages
The Accountability Dilemma of Global Outages When major outages such as those from CrowdStrike or Amazon Web Services occur, companies often respond...
