Speaking of Leadership® Blog

Phil Holberton

Phil Holberton

Dedicated to helping you achieve your maximum potential



It’s Lonely at the Top; It’s also Lonely at the Bottom

Reading Time: < 1 minuteIn one of his plays “Henry IV”, Shakespeare observed, “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.”  One of the most common descriptions of the leader’s life is that  “It’s Lonely at the Top.”  Fred Crawford, former CEO of global consulting firm Alix penned a letter to CEOs in Chief Executive magazine outlining

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Strategy,  Properly Understood

Reading Time: < 1 minuteEvery business has a strategy, whether intentionally chosen or not.  If you are not sure what your strategy is, it may help to know what “strategy”  really means. Strategy is a word that many of us use but perhaps without a clear definition of it.   To remedy this, check out a

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Incentives Beyond Compensation: Monetary vs Non-Monetary

Reading Time: < 1 minuteIf you’re a small to mid-size company you’ve no doubt lost at least one employee to a larger company who offered compensation that you could not match.   As frustrating as this is, you do have some options to retain people that don’t require significant out of pocket cost.  This short article from

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Are You MARGINAL(al)?

Reading Time: < 1 minuteIn the late 1990s’ Internet bubble, many people were seduced into believing that profits didn’t matter, only growth.   Time has a way of making people forget painful lessons as Professor Scott Galloway reminds us this week in his “No Mercy, No Malice” blog. He looks at Uber, WeWorks, Lyft and

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“The Meritocracy Trap”

Reading Time: < 1 minuteIt’s been said that “money doesn’t buy happiness but it does buy a better class of problems.”  For the so-called “elites” of our society who’ve achieved success in commerce or the professions, that success comes at a much higher personal price than that paid by earlier generations who reached the top.

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The Algebra of Happiness

Reading Time: < 1 minuteAcademics and Business people need each other but often see the world very differently.   Dr. Scott Galloway at the Stern School at NYU who is also a startup veteran, and public company board member has lived in both worlds and built an impressive reputation for astute analysis, commentary, and remarkable

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Feedback or Advice – Which do You Prefer?

Reading Time: < 1 minutePeople with a growth mindset are eager for feedback.   Seeking input from others on how to get better is necessary for success in any field.   So, would you like some input on how to get better input? As with so many aspects of communication, it’s not what you say, it’s how you

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The Economic Lookout – Where We Are Headed

Reading Time: < 1 minuteIt’s Not 2008  (Yet): More market turbulence and some weakening economic indicators are causing many to assume a recession is around the corner.  Economist Brian Wesbury thinks otherwise and revisits some earlier downturns for some perspective which leads him to conclude it’s “This Is Not 2008”. Omens and Portents: Various metrics such as the yield

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The Very Rich Read Differently

Reading Time: < 1 minuteScott Fitzgerald once remarked that the “very rich are different than you and me” and supplied a long list of reasons.   If he were writing today he might have added that the rich read differently to that list. “Successful people know they are what they read”   according to this brief posting from

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A Great American – Herb Meyer – RIP

Reading Time: < 1 minuteA Great American, RIP Vistage, the international peer group organization for CEOs and KEY executives is truly fortunate to have hundreds of subject matter experts who bring expertise and wisdom to its C-Level Members.  One of the most prominent was Vistage Speaker Herb Meyer who passed away recently from injuries suffered

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