Barbara Kellerman |
Recent washingtonpost.com blogs Barbara Kellerman blogs regularly at the washingtonpost.com site, "On Leadership." "Uprooting Bad Leaders" "Adamant for Drift" was the brilliantly sardonic title of a speech delivered by Winston Churchill to the House of Commons in November 1936. His mission was to warn an apathetic England against Nazi Germany, and particularly against Hitler, whose appetite, Churchill later cautioned, would "grow with eating." (Posted September 29, 2009) "New Wine in New Bottles: Iran's Lessons on Followership" Hate to say "I told you so." (Not really.) But . . . I told you so. In my most recent book, "Followership: How Followers are Creating Change and Changing Leaders," I wrote that as a result of two changes, one recent and the other even more recent, 21st century leaders are losing power and influence while followers are gaining more. (Posted June 18, 2009) "American Idol Contestant, Timothy Geithner" The American people have got in the habit of shooting a man down for one gig gone awry. As Timothy Geithner discovered on Tuesday, his one bad turn was all it took for us to judge him so weak a performer that it will be difficult, maybe impossible, for him to recover. (Posted February 12, 2009) "Popes, Presidents and Public Opinion" When will they learn? Leaders today are vulnerable, as never before, to pressures from once-mute followers who now have the cultural temerity and technological capacity to protest loud and clear. (Posted February 6, 2009) "Following Mugabe" Robert Mugabe - president of Zimbabwe for near thirty years - is so bad he is evil. For the better part of the last decade he has run his country into the ground, transforming it from one of Africa's healthiest into one of Africa's deadliest. (Posted January 31, 2009) "Hillary Leads -- and Follows -- As She Takes Over at State" Hillary Clinton's first day at the office was nothing short of a triumph. Greeted by cheering throngs - many of them old hands at the State Department convinced that under her leadership at new day dawned for diplomacy - she did not let them down. (Posted January 24, 2009) "Lessons from Madoff's Minions" Most people who met Bernie Madoff, the man who seems to have out-Ponzied Ponzi,became minions. Even skilled and seasoned investors became fawning followers who fell all over themselves to hand their money to a man they did not know. Well, they did know Madoff; that is, they knew him by reputation, and that reputation was sterling. (Posted January 20, 2009) "Bottom's Up: Why Followers Matter" Leaders matter. But - Obama-mania notwithstanding - they don't matter as much as we think. Moreover they matter less now than they ever did before. Our fixation on leaders is not only misguided, it's downright mistaken. (Posted January 13, 2009) "Machiavelli's Advice" What would Machiavelli have said? How would he have advised "The Prince" to handle malfeasance or illegal behavior that washed up at his door? Recall that Machiavelli was not "Machiavellian" in the conventional sense.... Rather he was the ultimate pragmatist, with a canny and clever conception of the human condition. (Posted December 15, 2008) "The Courage to Be Sorry" About dysfuntional families, that great American sage, Dr. Phil, is wont to say, "This family needs a hero." And so it is - or was - with America's auto execs. But now it's too late. (Posted December 7, 2008)
Harvardbusiness.org blogs
"Musharraf's Fall Shows Power Ain't What It Used to Be" Pervez Musharraf was the object of his affection, but George W. Bush could not save his skin. (Posted August 19, 2008) "Down with the Bad Guys – and Up with the Good" It’s been a great week for those of us intent on stopping bad leaders – and one equally excellent for those of us intent on supporting good leaders. (Posted July 23, 2008) "Another "Follower" Takes a Leadership Stand (Against the Supreme Court)" Those of you who occasionally read my blog, or who in some other way are familiar with my work, will not be surprised to learn that every time there’s a story about the powerless intruding on the powerful, I get interested. (Posted July 10, 2008) "From Zimbabwe to the C-Suite: Our Responsibilities for Addressing Bad Leadership" During the last week the tut-tutting morphed into screaming and yelling. But it was too little too late. (Posted June 30, 2008) "Zimbabwe and Leaders' Global Responsibilities" It’s among the worst places in the world to live. In recent years the situation’s gone from very bad to even worse. And in recent months it’s hit rock bottom. (Posted June 24, 2008) "Why Pelosi is No Role Model for Women Seeking Office" Yikes! What a response! All I did in my most recent blog was point out the obvious: that when Hillary Clinton ran for president she had certain advantages. (Posted June 13, 2008) "Clinton is No Role Model for Women Seeking Office" According to a recent poll, some 69 % of the American people think Hillary Clinton’s run for the White House will make it easier for other women to follow her famous footsteps. Well, some 69% of the American people think wrong. (Posted June 9, 2008) "Clinton, Thompson, and the Power of the People" It’s mind-boggling. Mind-boggling how the kingpins of the world - not to speak of the queenpins - are being toppled from their perches. (Posted June 5, 2008) "Exhaustion's Role in Hillary Clinton, Bear Stearns Sagas" The harder we work the better we are. The harder we work the higher we climb. (Posted June 2, 2008) "Help Wanted: World Leader?" Are you so old that you remember when Memorial Day was called Decoration Day? (Posted May 22, 2008) "Is Jerry Yang's Bond to Yahoo Too Tight?" It’s his baby, after all. (Posted May 6, 2008) "Chief Executive Pay Needs to Get Real" The extreme income gap between chief executive officers and nearly everyone else has a corrosive effect. (Posted May 13, 2008) "The Income Gap Between Leaders and Led" Smart leaders set themselves apart. They are not, nor do they pretend to be, like the led. (Posted May 5, 2008) "Obama's Campaign Proves Race Still Matters" Guess what, boys and girls? Race matters. (Posted April 25, 2008) "The Airline Industry's Whistleblowers" Were you among the hundreds of thousands of passengers recently stranded when American Airlines grounded more than 3,000 flights in less than a week? (Posted April 21, 2008) "John McCain: Mystery Man" Of all the recent candidates for the American presidency, none is as elusive as John McCain. (Posted April 14, 2008) "The Olympic-Sized Leadership Challenge of IOC Chairman Jacques Rogge" You think life is tough? Imagine you were Jacques Rogge. (Posted April 9, 2008) "Ask JPMorgan's Dimon: Not Everyone Follows the Leader" Just a few days ago James Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, was riding high. (Posted March 25, 2008) "Obama and Bear Stearns' Schwartz: A Tale of Two Speakers" During the worst of all possible weeks for Bear Stearns, CEO Alan Schwartz had the worst of all possible times.(Posted March 21, 2008) "Leader Beware: You Have No 'Private' Life" In 2005, Harry C. Stonecipher, CEO of Boeing and one of America’s most highly respected corporate leaders, was asked by the company’s Board of Directors to resign his post.(Posted March 17, 2008) "Spitzer: Another Leader Led Astray" The details don’t matter. For whatever the exact end of the story of Eliot Spitzer, it is the end.(Posted March 11, 2008) "All The Candidates’ Kin" Back in the Stone Age, when Harry Truman was president, to involve family in politics was considered unseemly.(Posted March 10, 2008) "How Obama and Clinton Stack Up as Managers" The conventional wisdom on leadership and management is clear: the first matters more than the second.(Posted March 4, 2008) "Leadership Lessons from Hillary Clinton's Election Results" When the history of Campaign 2008 is written, the headline will be the decline—if not the loss—of Hillary Clinton. (Posted February 6, 2008) "Our Fascination with Hillary... and Women in Leadership" Last time I checked I was a woman. Last time I voted I voted Democratic. And last book I edited was titled Women & Leadership. (Posted January 18, 2008) "Why The Experts Got New Hampshire Wrong" Surprise, surprise! A political earthquake: Hillary takes New Hampshire! (Posted January 9, 2008)
|
|
© 2009 Presidents and Fellows of Harvard |