There's a lot going on these days. A lot. Businesses and organizations are facing increasing uncertainty and a growing number of complex challenges: the federal budget freeze, federal agencies closing or shrinking, the new (and potentially escalating tariffs), as well as shifting national policy (in areas such as immigration and DEI) are resulting in uncertain [...]
Sometimes the topic for my newsletter article just comes to me. Last week I ran across a podcast (and companion newsletter) published by Jo Saxton, a nationally known speaker, author, and leadership coach. Before I share a portion of it, let me start by saying my column is not about politics -- everything PEN does [...]
I get asked occasionally what is the single biggest reason organizations fail. Of course, there isn’t one right answer: organizations -- even from the same sector or industry -- have different cultures, different core competencies, different strategic challenges and advantages, different circumstances that contribute to success or failure. As a result, some organizations struggle with [...]
It’s not often I use this column to write a “book report,” but I was recently made aware that one of our members -- Connie Delaney, Dean at the University of Minnesota’s School of Nursing -- wrote a book on leadership: Leading with Love. I thought I’d just skim it (I have probably 30 books [...]
During the COVID years, we were all given the opportunity to reflect on our mortality and on what’s truly important in life: our fast-paced daily routines came to an abrupt halt, allowing us to recalibrate -- to refocus on the priorities in each of our lives. But, while COVID isn’t over, most of us have [...]
“If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail,” so the saying goes. In other words, each tool -- be it for carpentry, cooking, or process improvement -- has a distinct purpose. And tools are sub-optimized if they are used for anything other than that distinct purpose – imagine trying to loosen [...]
“The political landscape in the United States is highly polarized,” that being the opening line of a recent (August 22) Gallup study. It probably won’t surprise any of you, but I would submit that we are more divided now than anytime since the 1960s (and before that, the 1860s). The opening paragraph goes on to [...]
Ever heard the story about the customer who brought four tires to a Nordstrom Customer Service counter to return them? As the legend goes, although Nordstrom doesn’t sell tires, the employee processed a refund anyway. Talk about a culture that 1) is highly customer focused, and also 2) completely trusts and empowers its people to [...]
So last weekend I was in the grocery store (I’m one of the few who actually still enjoy grocery shopping), and I overheard a young kid -- maybe four or five years old -- ask, who I assume was his mother, if he could get some cookies. She said no, to which he inquired why [...]
Everywhere you look, standards are rising. In business, in sports, in education, in healthcare – really in all aspects of human and organizational achievement – what is considered "world class" continues to increase. For example… It used to take 72 hours by plane to cross the Atlantic (1913); it now takes just over six. The [...]
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