10 Guiding Principles
Whether consulting, speaking, facilitating, or coaching, these principles guide my practice.
Build On Strengths
More energy should be put into building on strengths than mitigating weaknesses (unless weaknesses are making the "wheels fall off").
Objectives Drive the Process
Leadership development (and almost anything else) should be designed around how to achieve desired outcomes - i.e. aim before shooting.
Seek Alignment
One of the best paths to meaningful gains in performance is establishing congruence between personal objectives and those of the organization.
View People - and Organizations - Wholistically
Regardless of where you start, lasting change ultimately must integrate changes in thinking, in feeling, and in behavior.
Use Information for Decision-making
Data and information is best used to make wise choices from alternatives, rather than simply advance presuppositions.
With People, Think Cultivate Not Operate
People and organizations are living systems, not machines - it is more productive to think about influencing the human ecology that seek a magic lever that makes people act a certain way.
Learning is Lifelong
Exploring new pursuits and reviewing well-established basics both add value - leadership is an art that can always benefit from ongoing learning.
Do What Works
...and what works in one setting could be very different from what works in another.
Do No Harm
Seek value and avoid harm in the triple bottom line of profits, people, and planet.
Remember to Have Fun
It’s all about the quality of your life.
~ Tom Stevens, Founder of Think Leadership Ideas