Speaking of Leadership® Blog

Phil Holberton

Phil Holberton

Dedicated to helping you achieve your maximum potential



Sauerkraut Leadership

Reading Time: < 1 minutes In the late 1700s, Captain James Cook made history by being the first European to discover Hawaii, circumnavigating the globe in the process. During these long sea voyages, a disease created by lack of Vitamin C known as scurvy was very common among the crews and very difficult to treat

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The “Dottie Test”

Reading Time: < 1 minutes As organizations grow and C-Level executives become busier they often lose sight of the team members who occupy the lower rungs of an ever-growing org chart. Charles Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger shared a valuable lesson in a  NY Times Interview which taught him “you should never lose sight of people who

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Quiet Ones in Charge

Reading Time: < 1 minutes One trait we don’t normally associate with great leaders is introversion.  Instead, leaders are often chosen for a winning, outgoing personality, which, sadly, sometimes is all that disguises an “empty suit.” Recent research from the Harvard Business Review may give cheer to introverts and a new perspective to those hiring

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“Crazy Enough to Work?”

Reading Time: < 1 minutes The great Danish physicist Niels Bohr once remarked to a young scientist who had presented a new idea to him that “Your idea is crazy.  The problem is that it’s not crazy enough to work.”  Many new businesses start out with a business model and/or strategies that are dismissed as “to crazy

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IQ, EQ and AQ

Reading Time: < 1 minutes For decades, the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) was the metric most focused upon in assessing one’s chances for success. In the 1990’s,  the Emotional Intelligence quotient (EQ) took on increasing importance as a predictor of career success. Now comes “AQ”.  A short Wired Magazine article provides a good overview of how AQ along

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20 Executives Share Lessons They Wish They Could Have Told Their Younger Selves

Reading Time: < 1 minutes What You Might Some Day Tell Yourself:   In addition to what CEOs think you should read,  here’s the advice they would give their 22 year old selves if they could go back and offer themselves a stern warning.

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Reverse Mentoring

Reading Time: < 1 minutes Mentoring and coaching are usually thought of as an older, more experienced person guiding a younger inexperienced person. However, in a time of a great change, it may make sense for the senior person to have a junior coaching him or her as the young generally do better adapting to,

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Who Owns the Sales Culture?

Reading Time: < 1 minutes We are constantly reminded about the importance of a strong company-wide culture.  But there are sub-cultures within the whole.  Take sales, Do you know who owns the sales culture? Is it the CEO, the Sales Manager, the COO?   Collen Stanley, Vistage Speaker and president of Sales Leadership, Inc. knows, and if

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The After 40 Effect

Reading Time: < 1 minutes The importance of emotional intelligence has been documented for years.   However, there are some very important traits that, while required for success, don’t have a visible effect on one’s career until later in life. This short HBR blog post outlines research that identifies the three personality traits that SIGNFICANTLY affect lifetime earnings,

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The Laws of Inbound

Reading Time: < 1 minutes Peter Drucker once remarked that the best business in the world was a mailbox to which people sent money. While this may be ideal, most businesses require some intermediate steps; such as lead generation. Historically, lead generation required many outbound activities by sales and marketing.  Social media has turned that on its head and

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Set the Tone for a Successful Career

Don't let your title dictate your strategy. Rather, use these 7 steps for a smooth transition and to succeed in the most important period of your employment: your first 90 days.

As a new manager or leader, you have your work cut out for you but it's important to slow down and be strategic. Many careers get sidetracked during the first 90 to 180 days because the entry was too fast. Follow the advice in this free white paper to set the tone during your onboarding and to set yourself up for success.

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