CEO Sherpa

Every leader confronts uncertainty. It tests you, teaches you, and provides you the opportunity to create. The potential to generate meaning and advantage is greatest when your organization reaches an inflection point — either for expansion or contraction. And in that moment of focused potential, you seek advice and counsel.

You want practical insights from someone with leadership experience. You don't want a consultant with a collection of statistics and theories.

You want a trusted confidant who listens, evaluates objectively, and applies expertise and experience to support you and your team as you pursue your goals.

What you need is a CEO Sherpa! Learn more about our CEO Advisory and Executive Coaching services.

Why Collaboration Matters

How do you get your team to agree on an objective? You can unilaterally declare the goals for your organization. But that’s not leadership. That’s just exerting power. Power can make people do things FOR you, but when the going gets tough or something better comes along, they won’t be WITH you.

Besides, do you really know the future in enough detail that you can just issue instructions? You probably have some good ideas, but you know about as much about the future as a weatherman does about next week’s sunshine.

Leadership is not a solo performance...  More

Listening isn't about getting information...

Listening is by far the most important skill for a leader to hone. Have you ever seen a leader who seems unflappable and remains calm in even the most chaotic circumstances? Watch that person closely and you will see the secret to this cool demeanor—focused listening. As a leader, you need to pay attention to the words and actions of others while suspending judgment long enough to allow your intellect to catch up with your instincts...  More

The root of courage is embracing doubt

When confronted with great uncertainty, our sensory cortex fires into high gear and produces a feeling of fear in our bodies. Chimpanzees have a similar biological mechanism, but at least their fight-or-flight response only activates when confronted by real danger. We humans on the other hand react to our imagined fears with the same ferocity as a life threatening situation. Whether it is fear of failure, rejection, reprisal, or death, it is fear that rules this world...  More

Book Review:
A Whole New Mind

This is a fun yet profound read that you can easily finish on a cross-country flight and that you will probably not forget. It will deeply interest most people faced with challenges in leading a growing organization. The author’s main premise is that the forces of "automation, abundance, and asia" have combined to make speed to market, efficient production, and technical prowess mere table stakes in a global marketplace. Left brain prowess is not enough – you need to also sharpen your right brain...  More

Get the book at Amazon: ...here.

Book Review:
More Than A Minute

Holly is a friend of mine and a talented strategy faciliator. She is a highly qualified authority on management techniques after serving for many years as a consultant to major corporations around the world. Holly reprises and enhances the original tools for supervisors and executives explored in The One Minute Manager more than 25 years ago by...  More

Get the book at Amazon: ...here.