1: “Human communication has its own set of very unusual and counterintuitive rules.” Malcolm Gladwell tells us.
Exhibit one: If we want to inspire people into action, providing detailed scenarios doesn’t work.
Why? “Even if believable when disseminated, such scenarios quickly become discredited as the future unfolds in unexpected ways,” Stephen Denning writes in The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative.
1: “Organizations often seem immovable,” Stephen Denning writes in The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling.
The good news?
“They are not,” he notes.
So, how can we possibly move the immovable?
“With the right kind of story at the right time, they are stunningly vulnerable to a new idea,” he observes.
His book provides a guide to finding and telling the right story at the right time. His premise? The … continue reading
“In the meantime, cling tooth and nail to the following rule: not to give in to adversity, not to trust prosperity, and always take full note of fortune’s habit of behaving just as she pleases.” -Seneca
1: “Because he has become more myth than man, most people are unaware that Abraham Lincoln battled crippling depression his entire life,” writes Ryan Holiday in The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art … continue reading
Carlos is the CEO of a successful food company.
“He is brilliant, hard-working, and an expert in his field,” writes Marshall Goldsmith in What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful. “He started out on the factory floor and rose through sales and marketing to the top spot. There is nothing in his business that he hasn’t seen firsthand.”
“Like many creative … continue reading
Getting better at getting better is what Rise With Drew 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.
This past summer, we received some exciting news. Fortune magazine named PCI the #55 Best Medium Workplace in the U.S. This represented the achievement of our long-term … continue reading
1: It’s the first day of class at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. About one hundred graduate students find their seats. Professor Ronald Heifetz, a popular professor and well-known authority on leadership, sits in a black swivel chair in the front of the classroom.
He doesn’t take attendance or begin his lecture. He just sits there, staring at the ground “with a blank, slight bored look on his … continue reading
1: Danny Meyer was struggling.
Twenty-seven years old, he had just opened his first restaurant in New York City. He sensed he was making the biggest mistake a manager can make: neglecting to set high standards and hold others accountable. Most of his waiters and managers were older than he was. They were testing him and pushing his buttons.
“This was driving me crazy,” he recalls in his book … 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: 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
