Leading By The Book Leadership Education

One of the most rewarding parts of my career – and I hope for you as well – is the great group of people that I’ve had the pleasure of working with. One person in that group is Alasdair James, the CEO of Pier 1 Imports.

Alasdair and I worked together at Sears Holdings Corporation where he was the President of Kmart. He’s an intelligent leader, and one of the easiest people to work with that I’ve ever come across. He has incredible international experience and has worked with some of the world’s most well-known brands. Wherever you are in your leadership journey, this episode will provide great insight and introduce you to one of the best leaders I’ve had the pleasure of working with.

Take a look at the media. They talk a lot about “successful” people. The same goes for the social circles we run in. You hear someone referred to as successful. By and large, when that word is used, it’s referring to someone doing well financially.

[Read more…]

It’s been little more than 8 months since Leading by the Book was launched. When I dreamed up Leading by the Book, the goal was really pretty simple. I wanted to share leadership lessons that I’ve learned throughout my career. Why leadership? Why not accounting tricks or marketing know-how? Sure, all of that is important, but leadership, more than anything is the most important factor in any organization or individual accomplishing what they set out to do. Bizarrely, it’s also the most under-developed skill in adults today. I wanted to change that.

[Read more…]

Over the past year or so, I’ve talked at length about how much of an impact Brazillian Jiu Jitsu had on me both personally and professionally. In terms of discipline, focus and creativity, I’m a better person because I started training. One of the truly great aspects of jiu jitsu, however,  is the people you get to meet along the way.

One of those people is Jason Hunt. Jason is an incredible jiu jitsu teacher, with black belts in both Jude and BJJ. On top of that, he was a national judo champion. He’s a really insightful mind, and for those of you that are either new or not quite convinced on jiu jitsu, listening to him may be the nudge that you need. On top of that, the principles that we discuss in this episode, are directly applicable to your life and will generate immediate returns. I hope you enjoy this show, and if you’re in or near Los Angeles, be sure to check out his academy Meraki BJJ – it’s a beautiful facility, with incredible teaching and a great population of students.

A couple of months back, through pure happenstance, I stumbled across the U.S. Army Leadership Handbook on Amazon. At the moment I have a pretty big waiting list for books, so it took me a little while to get to it, but once I did, I was truly blown away by what a leadership gem this book is.

[Read more…]