What I Learned As a Recent Hospital Patient

Earlier last week, I found myself in the hospital for four days. Ever the observer and organizational analyst, I couldn’t help paying nearly as much attention to how the hospital operated as to my own medical condition. So rather than dwell on my ailments (which, I’m happy to report, are now behind me), I’d like […]

Building Your Power of Expression Axiomatic, adj. Pronunciation: ,aksēəˈmadik Meaning: Self-evident or unquestionable. Usage: “It is axiomatic that dividends have to be financed.” “It is axiomatic that a person’s credibility is seriously undermined when his actions consistently contradict his professed principles.” “The proposition that no individual possesses a monopoly on truth should be axiomatic to […]

Your attention, please! Issue 364 of Uncommon Sense has arrived! Let’s get busy! As the Managing Partner of Leadership Development Systems, I have spent years studying, teaching, and trying to live the principles of enlightened leadership. For some time now I have had a leadership concern on my mind that I am finally ready to […]

One of the great myths of leadership is that leaders establish standards by announcing them. They don’t. They establish standards by enforcing them. You can hang a beautifully framed list of organizational values in the lobby. You can hold retreats. You can distribute laminated cards. You can even hire a consultant who uses words like […]

The Oppressive Oppressed In California, a century of traffic science and public-safety research had established strict licensing rules for truck drivers navigating fully loaded 80,000-pound, double-trailer behemoths amid tiny subcompacts on our busy freeways. Our legal system has insisted that drivers of such interstate semis must be highly skilled and certified before stepping into the […]

Last March I was invited to deliver a speech on the subject of Navigating the Storms of Life. It was to a rather diverse audience and the speech resonated with the people. I thus received a second invitation to speak on the unusual and esoteric subject of sacred religious texts. I prepared carefully for that […]

I have occasionally wondered how many things I might have done in life if I hadn’t been afraid to do them. Probably quite a few. Fear is one of nature’s better inventions. It keeps us from petting rattlesnakes, investing our retirement funds in Nigerian princes, and saying certain things to our wives that—while technically true—need […]

Building Your Power of Expression Protean, adj. Pronunciation: ˈ’prōdēən, prōˈtēən Meaning: The word protean denotes the idea of someone or something tending or able to change frequently or easily. Kind of reminds me of a shape-shifter or a person of extreme versatility. Usage: “It is difficult to comprehend the whole of this protean subject.” “Shostakovich […]

I am pleased to bring you Issue 363 of Uncommon Sense! We’ve got some important ground to cover in this issue, some of it serious, some of it perhaps a bit whimsical. There are many facets of leadership and one of them involves displaying courage without being obnoxious. Sometimes doing what is popular is a […]

There is a dirty little secret about leadership that doesn’t get mentioned much in leadership seminars. Sometimes, if you’re doing it right, people won’t like you. There. I said it. We live in an age obsessed with approval. We count “likes.” We monitor comments. We curate our opinions. We soften our language so nobody becomes […]