Situational Leadership

Nelson Mandela’s balancing act

May 9, 2014
Reporters who covered Nelson Mandela never doubted his courage, vision or greatness of spirit, but some felt his eulogies elevated him to sainthood, overlooking his practical side.

Who should pick up the tab? 6 tips

September 27, 2013
Have you ever been in the awkward position of eating out for business and wondered who should pay? Invisor Consulting Managing Partner Steve Tobak offers six guidelines.

Confirm pronunciations

March 1, 2013
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When leaders need to be boring

October 26, 2012
Stanford professor Bob Sutton regards leadership as an expression of comedy and tragedy. For instance, he has said that good leaders know when to be boring, vague, emotionally detached and authoritarian. In a recent interview, he was asked when boredom might be desirable.

Phrases that can kill a sale

February 1, 2012
Avoid the following phrases when speaking to prospective clients.

One CEO’s Rx for a doctor shortage

September 22, 2011
Albany, Mo., population 1,730, was sorely lacking doctors and nurses. So John Richmond, the hospital’s retired CEO, started speaking at local schools. Those who showed an interest got financial aid for their medical studies in exchange for coming home to work for a number of years.

Leading by example

May 11, 2011
Leadership gurus recommend leading by example. Good advice! But here are a few situations when leading by example doesn’t work:

Up against a wall? Try humor

April 26, 2011

Creative consultant Andy Stefanovich had a problem in 1995. A Fortune 100 client wasn’t paying its tab, and nothing—from calls and gifts to lawyerly nudges—had produced a payment. To clear her head, a colleague took Stefanovich’s dog out for a walk and came back with a crazy idea—a letter:

The new model: adaptive leadership

April 11, 2011

Many business thinkers have already pro­­nounced the death of the hierarchical, command-and-control approach to leadership. Those approaches simply don’t work anymore. What’s in? Adaptive leadership. Among other things, adaptive leaders embrace uncertainty and adopt new approaches.

Put your rivals at ease

April 8, 2011
When the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff visited MBA students at Wharton and worked the classroom, he met a student from Moscow whose father had been a general in the Red Army at the height of the Cold War. Realizing that the generals served on opposite sides, the class fell silent …