Annoying the gods or adoring narcissists has never paid off. But people don’t readily learn these lessons, and we continue to do both, as the myths teach us. Take Echo, a mountain nymph who loved her own voice. Echo blatantly disregarded this sage advice, as evidenced by her consorting with Zeus, husband to the powerfulRead more
Why can some people bounce back from adversity while others languish? Why can some leaders help those around them find the path through the crisis when others can’t? To find the answers, I decided to study heroes–people who had overcome some sort of significant adversity and emerged healthy and hardy. I wanted to draw fromRead more
Ordinary just won’t succeed anymore. Organizations will increasingly depend on cutting-edge solutions to never-before-seen problems and clever ideas for those recurring headaches that have always plagued us. Research indicates that a handful of star performers create the vast majority of valuable ideas for their organizations. These top thinkers, who also deliver stellar results, define theRead more
When exceptional people lack ethics, empathy, remorse, and loyalty, we start to think of them as tragic losses–virtuosos that have gone bad. Often these top performers snake their way into an organization, initially looking look like the fulfillment of the company’s wishes. Certainly, they can represent a dream come true–right up until they turn intoRead more
At the end of the Vietnam War a considerable strain of skepticism, aimed at national and Air Force leadership, ran through the fighter force. Some pilots concluded that the leadership did not care about them. Less than five years after the war ended, disgruntled pilots voted with their feet as they walked into commercial airlineRead more
