Strategic Insights

We’re at the edge of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and in the midst of a global pandemic turning countless businesses upside down. The strains on corporate culture are profound — as are the pressures on leaders. But even before the recent economic and social upheavals, the corporate culture concept was...

A few months ago, I asked my daughters to read a few chapters from the manuscript of my new book.  One piece of feedback I received was about a section in the Introduction, where I defined some key terms. My daughter Kristin liked that these definitions created a shared understanding...

The best leaders always care about their people and act like it. Treating others with dignity and respect, rather than proverbial cogs in the wheel, has been repeatedly proven to engender trust, loyalty, and productivity. Many leaders give lip service to valuing their employees, both collectively and as individuals. But...

Crises can define CEOs and cement their abilities to guide an organization. As business leaders navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, we asked eight former C-suite leaders of global workforces, who sit on the Advisory Board and Board of Directors of InStride, to share their perspectives on leading through a crisis. Collectively,...

Knowledge is firstly accumulated by creating new knowledge from organizational intellectual capital and acquiring knowledge from external environments. This knowledge exchange with external business partners develops innovative environments that can enable leaders to creating a more innovative climate in companies. This knowledge process enhances the capabilities of leaders to play...

The closest parallel to today’s COVID-19 pandemic might be the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak, which is a time few living people can remember. Consequently, modern executives are now expected to make unprecedented management decisions without any direct experience or information. Still, that doesn’t mean they can’t evaluate what has worked...

The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging leaders worldwide in ways most have never experienced. The health of your employees and their families is threatened. You are experiencing an extreme range of challenges. Some of you are under government orders to close or demand for your products has disappeared. For others, demand...

Use these 5 communication checkpoints to refine your communication style and inspire action.  Whether you are a leader of a team or an individual contributor, effective communication is essential for collaboration and progress at work. Many people don’t realize that communication is not only about what you communicate but also...

Organizational flux, personal concerns and mass uncertainty about the future of work and business all contribute to a uniquely challenging situation for executive leadership teams. Social isolation exacerbates the situation and can lead to a “hunker down” mentality that poses leadership challenges and disrupts normal recovery resources. More than ever,...

Picture this: Your last three strategic plans returned only between 60% to 70% of what was expected. You tried improving execution in the first case, but realized your strategy needed to change. Then in the second case you changed the strategy, but found poor execution was to blame. Now, in...