Kristin's Blog
Integrity - What it is and What it isn't
This article was not my original piece for this first month entry – thus the delay in publication. I changed my mind midstream; as this article was spawned from several recent experiences of what I will term ‘shady integrity.’ This blog is written with a lot of heart and soul. Much has been written about…
Alignment, the secret to authentic power?
Oprah and I have agreed on many things over the years; yet, imagine my surprise when I was reading her ‘What I Know for Sure’ column in this month’s magazine to find her expose on personal power. I quote: “The secret is alignment: when you know for sure that you’re on course, and doing exactly…
Creativity-the key ingredient for today's leaders?
My last blog focused on the underrated trait of ‘raw kahunas’ or bravery in our leaders today. Today, I want to focus on what I perceive to be another kindred quality in short supply these days: creativity. I think most of us in business, (certainly those with children who are missing out on creative courses…
Bravery: an Overlooked Leadership Quality?
As I watched the coverage of the 40 year anniversary of the Apollo lunar landing last week, one thought kept entering my mind: these men were so brave! Can you imagine going into space in a lightweight craft traveling at 25,000 miles per hour? Can you imagine landing on the moon with literally only 20…
That is just so rude!
A friend of mine and I were talking the other day, and she commented how people simply wouldn’t return phone calls and we both said in unison: ‘that is just so rude.’ Frankly, that one small example of simply not calling people back has become more of a standard practice, than an exception. This got…
Truth, Trust, and Transparency - Where's the line for you?
Mary is an up and coming leader in a Fortune 50 company. Over the course of her career, she has managed to zig zag her way into a nice position of great authority and power. However, of late, due to a significant corporate acquisition, she is now maneuvering new executive additions to her organization, and…
Unexpected Heroes
People have always created or looked for heroes to give us inspiration, support or even hope. Think about when we were growing up, who were our fictional heroes? Superman, Nancy Drew, Popeye, and even The Tortoise in Aesop’s fable The Tortoise and the Hare (maybe the Bugs Bunny version!). We learned early to identify characters…
Seriously, though ...
The situation is this: Bob is an executive who doesn’t believe he is taken seriously by his new immediate manager (an SVP of a publicly traded company) and his manager’s associated leadership team. His boss disagrees with his ideas and approaches for the business, and questions his overall ability to ‘think strategically.’ He categorizes Bob as…
Are your Strategies Aligned for Action?
Southwest Airlines, Whole Foods Markets, and Target are just a few companies whose stores (or planes) I frequent. I began to wonder, particularly in this recession, how these companies were continuing to perform relatively well – despite people’s reduction in discretionary spending. Every time I head to Love Field in Dallas the Southwest terminal is buzzing and…
Are the first 100 days the barometer?
This blog is not about what Obama and his administration has accomplished (or not). We will leave that to the political commentators and official blog writers. However, there has been so much discussion over the past week about President Obama’s first 100 days. Everywhere you turn there is a new article or interview about his…