The Bold Leader Blog

The latter part of the title is the beginning of a quote from my conversation with Sam Yagan, CEO of Match.com.  The whole quote is: “Fail because you are trying, not because you are not trying.” It is probably a good example of why Time Magazine in 2013 named him one of “the 100 most influential people in the world, from artists and leaders to pioneers, titans and icons.” People hesitant to act for fear of failing accomplish little. All of my bold leader interviews to date have reinforced this fact. […]

Chris Malecek, an Aveus Advisory Board member, suggested I interview bold leader Sara Gavin, President of Weber Shandwick North America. I’ve known Chris and relied on his always clear, on point advice for decades. All that time, Chris has worked with and for Sara. So when he suggested her for this series, I was thrilled. Sara and I have known each other for almost as long, but neither of us could recall the last time we’d spoken, let alone crossed paths. I’ve known from our intersecting circles that she is a great leader. This conversation confirmed that she is also bold. […]

I’ve known Mary Jeffries since she was the CFO of a startup PR firm in Minneapolis more years ago than either of us will admit. Many from those days would credit Mary with doing “whatever it takes” to push through challenges, taking the organization to the next level. One example is when Mary was seen raiding the vending machine, collecting coins and bills to help with cash flow… […]

Charlotte Otto was the person, P&G leadership turned to for communication counsel in times of positive and negative stress. For 20 of her 33 years at the company, she was at the center of communications, working with 5 CEOs and many bold leaders. […]

Think of change leadership as ‘stealth’ organizing. You know those great experiences when you meet someone for the first time and immediately the conversation feels natural, with common values and principles popping to the forefront in the first few sentences? […]

Positive is good. Negative is bad. Right? For example, positive stress in an organization typically helps drive towards a desired outcome. The challenge is to harness the positive to your advantage. Let’s contrast. […]