Category

July 2024

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1: Life can change in a minute.

It was February 18, 2004.  Mark Bertolini, a senior executive at Aetna, the giant health insurance company, was skiing with his family in Killington, Vermont. 

Mark lost control of his skis, crashed into a tree, and then fell into a ravine, breaking his neck.

While Mark healed rapidly from the fall, he was in constant pain.

“His doctors prescribed traditional painkillers that … continue reading

1: The trouble began when Bill was given a new assignment. 

He traveled extensively around the world as part of his job.  He would be in charge of a project in the Far East. 

“The CEO had begun paying special attention to me, calling me directly, often bypassing my boss.”  Bill recalls in Fred Kofman’s book The Meaning Revolution: The Power of Transcendent Leadership.

“Before this project,” Bill explained … continue reading

1: The news about employee engagement is distressing.

“For more than thirty years, the Gallup Organization has run in-depth behavioral economic research on more than twenty-five million employees across hundreds of U.S. organizations,” Fred Kofman writes in The Meaning Revolution: The Power of Transcendent Leadership.

First, the good news.  The Gallup data shows that workgroups in the top quartile of engagement achieve strong financial results.

“Their profitability and productivity … 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 about myself or what we are working on at PCI.

The last several Fridays we’ve been exploring ideas on how to have better and deeper conversations.  We’ll continue with this theme in upcoming Fridays as we revisit ideas from prior … continue reading

person playing chess

1:  The year was 2019.  Johan Thijs, CEO of Belgian-based bank-insurance group KBC, had appeared in the Top 10 of the Harvard Business Review’s Top 100 CEOs in the world list for three years straight.

“If ever there was an ‘if it’s not broke, don’t fix it’ scenario,” Carolyn DewarScott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra write in CEO Excellence, Johan was it.

KBC consistently posted … continue reading

brown and black leopard

1: DuPont CEO Ed Breen has been celebrated for his boldness. 

Earlier this week, we looked at his aggressiveness in conquering the multi-billion dollar cable set-top market while serving as CEO of General Instruments and later in pursuing a merger with Dow Chemical, as detailed in  Carolyn DewarScott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra‘s powerful book CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from continue reading

1:  Having foresight is the “lead” in “leader,” Robert Greenleaf once wrote in The Servant as Leader

It was the late 1990s.  It was an analog world.  But Ed Breen, then CEO of General Instruments, could see the future.  And the future was digital.

“I’d just been made CEO the year before,” Ed remembers in Carolyn DewarScott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra‘s terrific book CEO continue reading

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 about myself or what we are working on at PCI.

I’m always looking for tools and strategies to connect with others on a deeper level.  This ability drives success in many aspects of life, including professionally and as a husband, dad, … continue reading

1: There are two types of people in the world, David Brooks writes in his book How to Know A Person.

There are “Illuminators.”  Who possess “a persistent curiosity about other people,” David writes. “They shine the brightness of their care on people and make they feel bigger, deeper, respected, lit up.”

And then there are “Diminishers.”  “Who make other people feel small. Often, they are so involved with … continue reading