1: Game time.
A small art museum in Cincinnati, Ohio was preparing to launch a capital campaign. To succeed, they would need several major donors to step up and pledge six-figure gifts to create momentum.
“After months of extensive research and networking, the campaign director secured an initial meeting with a well-known banker,” writes Esther Choi in Let the Story Do the Work. The campaign director and the museum’s … continue reading
1: In the early 1980s, Harley-Davidson, the once-iconic motorcycle company, had hit rock bottom. It was “an operation that looked like it was sinking into the sunset,” wrote an industry analyst at the time.
“The legendary but antiquated bike had become the laughingstock of the industry,” reporter Scott Bieber noted.
In 1987, Richard Teerlink became CEO. He initiated a substantial cultural shift and helped rebuild and rebrand Harley. “He understood … continue reading
1: Perhaps you have a friend like Jane.
“She is funny and social, a talker who uses her eyes, face, hands, and voice to pull you in and keep you listening, no matter what the topic,” Esther Choi writes in her book Let the Story do the Work.
Jane is a great talker. Not so much when it comes to listening.
“The rare times when I’m doing more of … continue reading
It is the holiday season. This week many of us will have the opportunity to reconnect with family and friends we don’t get to talk with all that often.
Option one: Have a version of the same conversation we have every year. What’s wrong with the [___] (fill in the name of favorite sports team)? What did you think of [___] (fill in the name of recent TV series)? Tell … continue reading
1: The phone rang around midnight as Martin Luther King Jr. was getting ready for bed.
It was January 27th, 1956, “the most important night of his life,” says Martin’s Pulitzer-winning biographer, David Garrow, “the one he would always think back to in future years when the pressures again seemed too great.”
The man on the other end of the phone called Martin the N-word and told him, “We … continue reading
1: The greatest American civil rights leader was at first an unwilling one.
In September 1954, Martin Luther King Jr. was 25 years old. He had just completed studying for his doctorate at Boston University. He and his wife Coretta moved to Montgomery, Alabama to realize his career goal of becoming a pastor. A little more than a year later, on November 17th, their first child, Yolanda, was born.
“Around … continue reading
1: Following their defeat in Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, Robert E. Lee and his Confederate Army retreated toward the refuge of Virginia.
“At that moment Lee was more vulnerable than ever before,” write Raymond Kethledge and Michael Erwin in Lead Yourself First. “Lee’s remaining troops were in enemy country, disoriented by defeat, and without reinforcements or ammunition to fight anything near a sustained battle.”
President Abraham Lincoln immediately understood the … continue reading
1: Eleven days after the Union victory at Gettysburg and ten days after General Ulysses S. Grant’s crucial triumph at Vicksburg, Abraham Lincoln suffered what was likely his most gut-wrenching setback as commander-in-chief during the Civil War.
At Gettysburg, Robert E. Lee “had been forced to relinquish the battlefield for the first time, his Army of Northern Virginia reduced by almost twenty-three thousand men,” write Raymond Kethledge and Michael Erwin … continue reading
1: Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about.
Monday through Thursday, we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary organizations. On Friday, I share something more personal or what we are doing at PCI in our quest to earn a spot on Fortune magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For.
Earlier this week, we explored the benefits of blocking off time to focus on what … continue reading
1: In early June of 1944, the success or failure of the D-Day invasion rested on the shoulders of Dwight D. Eisenhower, write Raymond Kethledge and Michael Erwin in Lead Yourself First: Inspiring Leadership Through Solitude.
In early December of the prior year, the President told Ike to move to England to become the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Forces. After six months of planning, “the critical variable, out of … continue reading
