Valuable Insights for Today's Leaders
Achieve success by following these ‘first principles’ of leadership
The first two principles of effective leadership: Be someone people want to follow. Lead in a way that makes everyone on your team feel like they matter. As we enter 2023, we should all be guided by what I identify as “first principles” of leadership. Unfortunately, many leaders in business, nonprofits and politics miss the mark.
FTX: Latest example of auditor failing as financial guardians
Audit firms are the guardians that protect the investing public and those who rely on companies’ financial statements. It is imperative they have the capability to audit those companies and maintain their independence, especially when the fees received are a significant portion of the audit partner’s and audit firm’s income. They need to fire their client if they uncover a pattern of fraudulent practices.
Where will Elon Musk-owned Twitter draw the line between free speech and hate speech?
Advertisers want to protect their brand. Companies are loath to advertise on a social media platform that allows posts which are baseless conspiracy theories or stir up discord, hatred and violence. They don’t want to be associated with hate speech posted on Twitter under the guise of free speech.
Does your company have too many chiefs?
When I see staff organization titles like chief knowledge officer, chief visioning officer, chief sustainability officer, chief strategy officer and chief innovation officer, I wonder why these areas aren’t the responsibility of existing positions within the company. I also wonder about the lack of ownership by the line organization of the initiatives developed by staff “chiefs.”
Philadelphia is welcoming busloads of asylum seekers, but Biden must act
Disbursing asylum seekers to a wide range of cities rather than having them remain in detention centers or funneling them into just a few cities will lessen the burden on any one state or city, especially those along our southern border. Biden also needs to do his job and implement a strategy to defend our southern border.
Elon Musk has not demonstrated good critical judgment as CEO of Twitter
Musk needs to win back advertisers’ confidence by issuing a policy that states that tweets that are baseless unsubstantiated conspiracy theories, that are posted for the purpose of stirring up discord, hatred and violence and that undermine society will not be tolerated. He needs to ensure Twitter has skilled moderators to make those judgment calls.
Hire job candidates with an entrepreneurial attitude and mindset
Advice to all college students: If you can obtain entrepreneurship training, do so. It will differentiate you from your peers and make you more attractive to future employers. Advice to employers: Hire people with an entrepreneurial attitude and mindset. They get things done.
Don’t stifle your career. Go beyond your job description responsibilities
By not operating beyond your job description, you deprive yourself the opportunity to gain experience and demonstrate that you are worthy of a promotion into a position of increased responsibility. Don’t stifle your career. Want to impress your boss? Go beyond what is expected of you.
Philadelphia must address the issue of crime
We need to change the mindset of people who commit crimes. They need to know that they will be arrested and prosecuted. Candidates for mayor in the May 2023 primary election need to outline in detail how they will address the issue of crime in Philadelphia, This is our city’s number one issue.
Why Phillies manager Rob Thomson is a transformational Level 5 leader
Thought leader Jim Collins describes Level 5 leaders as very ambitious, but “their ambition is first and foremost for the institution, not themselves.” Level 5 leaders are not imperial leaders. They don’t self-aggrandize. They are focused on building a team that can achieve great results. This is Rob Thomson.
As CFO, do you know what your CEO and board expect of you?
What does the CEO want from their CFO? A true business partner, a champion of continuous improvement, will part company with toxic direct reports and an individual who develops strong partnerships with the company’s business leaders. What do boards want from the CFO? Independence, integrity and candor. No surprises.
Do you trust your team to ‘go for it’ like Eagles’ coach Nick Sirianni?
The level of trust between Sirianni and Jalen reminds me of the trust between Eagles head coach Doug Pederson and quarterback Nick Foles when, during the 2018 Super Bowl, Foles ran the “Philly Special,” a play forever burned into the minds of Philadelphia sports fans.
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