ARTICLES BY DR. ANDY NEILLIE, CSP

Luther Bruce wasn’t necessarily a skeptic.  But he asked hard questions that no one really wanted to hear. So he sometimes came across as one. And early in my career, I learned that “The Leader as Chief Skeptic” isn’t a bad thing.

My first corporate position was as the Director of Development for a private school – I was in charge of fundraising for a school where I had taught and coached for a number of years.  …

Does your organization have a set of core values? Are they core values, or are they simply an exercise some consultant took you and your leadership team through several years ago. I’m convinced there is a strong corollary between effective leadership and core values.

First of all, a declaration:

The core values of an organization are the promises it makes to its employees, customers, vendors and community.

When I recognized that core values,

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Leadership as an introvert looks different.

Let me clear the air: I’m an introvert.  I like people, but they drain me.  I’m good with names but not great.  I lead well in-the-moment, but remembering personal details about our team members when I don’t spend much time with them is hard for me.

I sometimes wish I could interact with four, maybe five people at the most, and still be considered an effective leader.  

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Leadership as Guardrail

“You don’t want to do that!” Uncle Dave said that to me as I opened the car door before we came to a complete stop. I’m not sure exactly what happened next, but it included me not listening to him, the car screeching to a halt, the door swinging open, a loud honking from the swerving pick-up truck next to us, and, perhaps most importantly for this 7-year-old boy, the strong arm of Uncle Dave reaching across from the driver’s side to grab me before I fell out the door and under the wheels of the truck.

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