Speaking of Leadership^® Blog

The “Swiss Army Knife” of Health Mattress companies tell us that since we spend up to one-third of our lives sleeping, a mattress purchase is one of the most important investments we can make.  After you watch this 19 minute TED Talk on sleep, you’ll not only take the selection

Black Swans…or Gray Rhinos? In recent years we’ve heard the term “Black Swans”  to describe events like the 2008 real estate crisis:  events that are supposedly not foreseeable.  Policy strategist Michele Wucker’s TED Talk  “urges us to replace the myth of the ‘black swan’ — that rare, unforeseeable, unavoidable catastrophe — with the

“There are two kinds of failures: those who thought and never did, and those who did and never thought”  Laurence J. Peter Author, “The Peter Principle” ——————————————————— Required Reading-The Death of Retirement During the Great Recession of 2008, many people were afraid of going broke.  Now at the height of one of the

“To build the next generation of companies, we must abandon the dogmas created after the crash. That doesn’t mean the opposite ideas are automatically true: you can’t escape the madness of crowds by dogmatically rejecting them. “Instead ask yourself: how much of what you know about business is shaped by

How to “Heimlich” Yourself The Heimlich maneuver has saved thousands from choking.  Unfortunately, we often “choke” on more than just food.  It’s the rare individual who hasn’t “choked” at a critical moment due to fear, anxiety or some other emotion. There usually isn’t someone around in such situations willing or able

“We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world.” Helen Keller 1880-1968 The Useless Class  The introduction of machinery into agriculture in the 1800s freed millions from the farm to flock to the cities where, fortunately, an industrial revolution was also occurring

Entertainment is at its best when we’re amazed and amused.  If you’re open to 3 minutes and 15 seconds of both, check out four women who offer a stunning musical combination of talent, comedy, and teamwork. If you never played a musical instrument you’ll be amused; if you have, you’ll be amazed.   Spend a

Amazon rocked the grocery world two years ago when it bought premium grocer Whole Foods.  The distribution giant is now looking to secure the other end of the grocery market with a new format that is sure to disrupt mainstream grocers like Kroger and Wal-Mart. Amazon offers interesting lessons in strategy for

When you’re trying to understand a problem you’re trying to solve, it sometimes helps to ask why it’s your problem.  When it comes to providing healthcare benefits to employees, more than a few CEOs have wondered how they ended up with this mess on their desks. Harvard Business Review recently published a short and excellent article tracing the

Do you know what will happen in less than a year?  A minority will become the majority.  2020 will be the year the Millennials become a majority of the population and not long after, a majority of your employees, customers, suppliers competitors, and vendors. Boomers will now be the minority and Millennial dominance will