Leadership Insights
from the Untangle Doctor®
Blog Post Archive
- AIG 1
- Captain Sullenberger 1
- Hush Hush Tangle 1
- Introduction 1
- Jangle Tangle 1
- Lominger 1
- Marcia Ruben 1
- Meg Wheatley 1
- Strangling Tangle 2
- Tangle 1
- Twitter 1
- VUCA 17
- accountability 1
- adult development 1
- air cover 1
- ambiguity 1
- anger 1
- assessment 2
- backbiting 1
- blame 1
- brain based leadership 2
- cascade tangle 1
- catastrophize 1
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- competence 3
- complexity 3
- conflict 1
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- executive leadership 11
- executive leadership coach 4
Courage to Continue in Tough Times
This morning's San Francisco Chronicle featured a story in remembrance of the Jonestown massacres thirty years ago. In the front page article, Congresswoman Jackie Spier recalls her trip to Jonestown with Congressman Leo Ryan . For the past several weeks, the daily financial news has been grimmer and grimmer. Business leaders are faced with rising costs, uncertain revenue projections, and a shortfall of cash and credit.
Merrill Lynch's Culture of Fear Led to Strangling Tangle
In today's New York's Times, Gretchen Morgenson recounts the rise and fall of Merrill Lynch. I read the article and said to myself, eureka, this is a Hush-Hush Tangle! According to my definition, a Hush Hush Tangle occurs when critical information is not shared, and lines of communication are cut off. Everyone knows that there is a problem but no one talks about it. It becomes a tangle because human dynamics are further complicated by a very complex business challenge. Complexity doesn't do justice to the complicated nature of collateralized debt obligations (CDO's). CDO's are a financial product group comprised of derivatives. Merrill Lynch became enchanted with this product and it led to the company's precipitous fall.
Ambiguity—Dealing with the “A” in VUCA
I talked about the volatility, uncertainty, and complexity in previous posts. In this post I discuss ambiguity, the fourth element of VUCA. In my executive coaching practice, I have encountered business leaders who have varying degrees of comfort with ambiguity. When things are ambiguous, they are not clear. Sometimes the situation itself is unclear. Sometimes the problem and/or solution are both unclear.
Yes We Can
Yesterday, after the votes in the U.S. Presidential election had been counted and the winner decided images of the world's reaction to the election of Barack Obama filled our television screens. As I watched crowds and individuals from all over the world chant "Yes We Can" with tears in their eyes, I too found myself succumbing to a tsunami of emotion. Hope filled my heart as my eyes filled with tears. I cannot remember a more universal, positive, or global transcendent moment.