Archive for October, 2008
The Power of Perception
A 42 year-old man watches Into the Wild with his father and sees a hurt and hopeful young man on an existential journey. The man’s father sees a movie about a naive kid who tried to survive in Alaska on his own without proper planning. A 2.5 year old girl looks down the hallway in broad daylight and sees the spooky forest. Her uncle looks down the hallway and sees four doors, one open to a messy bedroom. Who of the people mentioned perceives what is real and right?
Webster’s online dictionary calls perception “the act or faculty of apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding. 2. immediate or intuitive recognition or appreciation as, of moral, psychological, or aesthetic qualities; insight; intuition, discernment. 4. a single…
Leadership Insights from CCL
Enjoy this Center for Creative Leadership piece (follow the link)
—> http://www.ccl.org/leadership/pdf/research/EverydayLeadership.pdf
You might “find” yourself in one of the data summaries.
Enjoy. If you want to discuss it, look me up on Twitter (@activ8potential), AIM (ActivatePotential), or email (ActivatePotential{at}Gmail.com)
Bye for now.
David
My Size Fits All - Not
I spent several hours today cruising the web looking for people with something to say about leadership. As a scholar-practitioner I was looking to discover some kind of pattern to what is “out there” on the subject.
Most of the people talking about leadership in the sites I visited fall into three categories: executives who claim success in “leading” an organization; people like me who claim to have had some success in some field of work and now consult to people who have organizational problems or needs they want to address; and professors in universities or PhD-holders in a related field working in some form of education in some kind of organization, either for- or not-for-profit.
Was It Really Leadership?
The most interesting thing about all of this, though, is how infrequently the…
National Politicians May Be Global Leaders
Note: This post is not about Sarah Palin. Some of her recent expressions are merely grist for the leadership mill. My intention is that this post be about the distinction between a national politician and world leader, between parochial and inclusive, about individualism and collectivism (or communitarianism, more accurately), between a closed and an open system, about globalization and our role in it.
LINK: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/16/europe.palin.oakley/index.html?iref=newssearch
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The issue discussed in this CNN article is not parochialism, per se. It is an apparent disinterest in being part of the world community, a…
Life in the PhD Lane…Sure to Make You Lose Your (Old) Mind
Well, it’s official; I’m a doctoral student. I just can’t keep away from the universities around here, I guess. I plan to finish in 2013.
I love it. It’s a little tough to blend school and work, but it’s no more complicated than for those of you who combine work and a vibrant family life. And to those of you who do all three - hats off!
The best 7 things about doing a PhD are:
1) Being a member of and really feeling part of a learning community of scholar- practitioners who are dedicated to making work life much easier, more productive, and truly fulfilling for everyone, not just the people in the C-suite;
b) Having access to the minds and hearts of some really bright and accomplished people;
3) Having access to world-class research…
