“Coalition” is a word that brings with it mixed reactions. Among academicians, there has been some wonderful work done on coalition theory.  In the world of practice, coalitions are often seen as a necessary political tool to achieve particular ends.  Leaders pushing agendas treat coalitions as nuisances they need to put up with rather than a mechanism to establish a cooperative enterprise. Successful coalitions are put in place before the fact. They are part and …

This evening I will be hosting a dinner workshop with Gary Bettman, commissioner of the National Hockey League, and Rob Manfred, Senior VP for HR for Major League Baseball. The topic of the evening is “Human Resource Practices and Industrial Relations in Professional Sports.” The Colloquium Series, held at the Cornell Club in Manhattan, brings together academics, practitioners, students, and policy leaders for dinner and discussion.
In Fall 2009 we had the honor of hosting a …

President Obama and the democrats are facing a fundamental leadership challenge: the challenge of not dropping the ball.
Leadership requires two fundamental skills: the ability to mobilize people and the ability to go the distance. All too often, leaders have a capacity to get people on their side, to rally them around an idea, but lose momentum by forgetting to focus on those key managerial activities that must be sustained to go the distance. …

Massachusetts is making Obama and his policy makers reevaluate the political landscape. They are going to have to make adjustments and make them soon. Of course, this is a challenge for any leader because adjustments aren’t easy and they can cause overreactions.
It seems obvious—if you have data that indicate an initiative is failing, you should be able to make adjustments. Yet sometimes inertia sets in after an evaluation has been made. You put the initiative …

Sometimes there’s a article that’s both current and essential reading for leaders. If the heart of leadership, as we’ve often argued, is mobilizing people around decisions–it’s vital we look at examples of decision processes that lead to action. The best tutorial is to examine specific cases, for good or for bad, of the decision process.
For the last three months we’ve watched President Obama struggle with his decision regarding Afghanistan. A superb presentation of his decision …

Today, we are finally starting our new podcast series. I hope you will enjoy it and get something out of it. We’ll try to keep them coming at a reasonable, but not overwhelming pace.
The purpose of this series is to elucidate and elaborate clear and specific principles around the issue of being proactive, with no promise that we won’t spill beyond these boundaries.
Let us know what you think. Hope you enjoy.
Sam B.