Friends, I’m very pleased to announce the pending publication of my new book, The Power of Communication: Skills to Build Trust, Inspire Loyalty, and Lead Effectively. It is being published by FT Press/Pearson. The formal publication date is May 6, but pre-orders are available now for both print and e-books, individual or bulk orders. E-book […]
This is my first post since the Logos Institute Blog began its weekly “what we’re reading” series. I haven’t been reading as much lately as I usually do, because I’ve been putting the finishing touches on my next book, about which you’ll hear much more in the coming months. But when I’ve read it has […]
I have just returned from two weeks of teaching in China, and it has gotten me thinking.
“The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression.” Sir John Harvey-Jones The catastrophic loss of the Deepwater Horizon rig on the Macondo well seemed to come as a complete surprise, especially to those who were closest to it. It […]
“Plan for what is difficult when it is most easy, do what is great while it is small. The most difficult things in the world must be done while they are still easy, the greatest things in the world must be done while they are still small.” The Tao-te Ching, or The Way and Its […]
The Paradox of American Power Between the 9/11 attacks and the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, the foreign policy establishment focused on the difference between “soft power” and “hard power.” The concepts were elaborated in a 2002 book by Joseph S. Nye, Jr., then dean and now University Distinguished Service Professor at the Kennedy […]
Taking Strategic Communication Seriously The United States government is finally taking strategic communication seriously. This week President Obama used all the instruments of diplomacy to advance the US foreign policy agenda, including getting Russia, France, and Britain to stand with the US against continued nuclear development by Iran. President Obama’s wins at the UN and […]
Several weeks ago I posted on the life and passing of Walter Cronkite and noted that in the early 70s Mr. Cronkite was identified as the most trusted person in America. I wondered aloud whether we could find any contemporary figure so trusted, much less among members of the news media. That was intended as […]
Walter Cronkite passed away tonight. And with him passed a generation’s reference point on what is important and what it means to be an engaged citizen. Walter Cronkite and the Space Program I have been thinking about Mr. Cronkite all week, as we approach the 40th anniversary of the moon landing. Mr. Cronkite’s personal involvement […]
A Leadership Test Leaders are judged on how they deal with their most significant challenges. As American Express CEO Ken Chenault said on the cover of the November, 2007 Fortune, “We have to remember that reputations are won or lost in a crisis.” Each year the consulting firm Booz & Company studies CEO turnover among […]