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On this site, I am interested in how we can rethink leadership, particularly leadership within teams. The old model of command-and-control seems to be ill-fitted to this new era. The idea that one person is "in charge" and her job is to direct everyone on what they should be doing and how they should do it may be obsolete. Newer models are available to us if we look beyond the tradition of the large corporate enterprise. That is what this site is prepared to tackle.  How can we learn better ways to lead teams in an era where the old models seem completely out-of-date?  

Much of what constitutes leadership scholarship has been focused on the MBA topics of finance, strategy, and senior level corporate and organizational guidance. We look to famous senior leaders like Alfred Sloan, Steve Jobs, Nelson Mandela, and Theodore Roosevelt. And there is nothing wrong with studying these individuals!

But the day-to-day operational core of most leaders does not get to work on billion-dollar bets, corporate acquisitions, or foreign policy of nation-states. Most leaders have a more local responsibility: how do I work with the eight or seventeen or perhaps forty-two people that are in my department or team; those people that I need to interact with every day in order for me and my team to do our best work?  

My own personal experience in this space spans into six decades, starting in the late 1970s and now into the 2020s. Much has changed in the world over those six decades. I've been a part of this change, and for much of the past decade I have been teaching about leadership.   What I would like to do here is to continue to share the best ideas that I have read, the best experiments that have been run, and the best ideas I have.  I want to work for what is best for all employees, not just a few in senior management positions.

I've pursued these topics previously while working at a large US insurance company, a large international technology company, and teaching at a small liberal arts college. I have had experience training community leaders and leaders in the Boy Scouts. I have coached sports teams and been a member of a symphony orchestra.

For the past ten years I have been studying a lot of models for leading creative individuals.  Some of these individuals are creative business people, some are people in technical roles, and others are artists and designers. My hope is that by studying the varieties of ways that leadership is exercised, we can find the best ways to lead teams and serve others.

Please join me on this journey!