Speaking of Leadership® Blog

Phil Holberton

Phil Holberton

Dedicated to helping you achieve your maximum potential



Freedom, Fairness, Equality

Reading Time: < 1 minutes The politically charged world we live in is characterized by many terms, most notably “freedom, fairness and equality”. Maybe the tone and temper of civic discourse would be improved if we had some shared definitions of them. Blogger Seth Godin offers three short but compelling views of what they mean. How do

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The New LinkedIn

Reading Time: < 1 minutes Microsoft paid $26 Billion for LinkedIn.  The following will help C-Level execs understand why.  Many CEOs and direct reports have a personal or company page on this site but know little about the power that LinkedIn offers them, so they don’t challenge their teams to use it to its fullest. 

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How Ike Did It

Reading Time: < 1 minutes Few people had more important and momentous careers that President Dwight (Ike) Eisenhower. During World War II he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe.  He not only led the planning for the invasion of Europe, his remarkable interpersonal skills held together a fragile coalition of US, English,

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Seven Best Business Decisions of All Time

Reading Time: < 1 minutes A few years back Vern Harnish (“Rockefeller Habits”, “Scaling Up , “Gazelles”) shared what he thought were the seven best business decisions of all time in a short video.  At the end, he commented that 6 of the 7 decisions had one thing in common. See if you can identify it before

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Alchemy for CEOs

Reading Time: < 1 minutes In the Middle Ages, Alchemists labored mightily, but in vain, to turn lead into gold.  One Vistage member, speaker and author suggests that CEOs can be modern-day alchemists and achieve a transformation that yields even more value; turning employers into owners. Scot Hunsaker is a ten year plus Vistage member and award-winning 2016 Vistage

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Are YOU “Principled?”

Reading Time: < 1 minutes Learning from the experience of others is useful, but it’s important to learn the right lessons.   Everyone’s experience is a sample size of one, and it’s important to learn the right lessons from that experience. The founder of one of the world’s most successful hedge funds, Bridgewater, is Ray Dalio.  He

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Drucker’s Big Five

Reading Time: < 1 minutes It’s hard to believe that the legendary Peter Drucker’s been gone for over a decade; perhaps it’s the timeliness of his work that keeps him top of mind with so many executives. Many companies will be focusing on their strategic plans during December and it’s easy to get lost in

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Is Your Strategy Scientific?

Reading Time: < 1 minutes Most of us realize that thanks to science, and perhaps more importantly, scientific method, that we enjoy a level of technology and therefore comfort that the kings and queens of a century ago would have envied.  Maybe we should apply the scientific method to how we run our businesses. Specifically,

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Your Five Contributions

Reading Time: 2 minutes Peter Drucker once suggested that the most important question executives can ask themselves is “What can I contribute?” As important as the question is, each of should realize that we are capable of several types of contribution; five to be exact according marketing blogger Seth Godin. His brief enumeration and

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A Dearth of Depth

Reading Time: < 1 minutes Where have all the leaders gone? Or at the very least, where are they going? The quest for experienced and effective leadership is getting harder… and it is not only the executive search and placement companies taking notice. Companies of all sizes are increasingly finding it difficult to successfully fill

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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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