Lessons from Lear (Part I)
Last week we went to see Australia's foremost Shakespearean actor, John Bell, perform King Lear for the third time. One of the great plays of English literature, King Lear has been open to many interpretations, the Freudians in particular having a field day about the causes of Lear's madness and his coming to his senses. However it is comments in the program by Bell about Lear that make for compelling reading. To Bell, the play is not about madness but the pitfalls of power. He sees Lear as a m.....
Read MorePotential Manager Flaws
I recently finished reading Why Smart Executives Fail by Sydney Finkelstein. While some observers try to argue that companies fail because the lack of intelligence of their senior executives, Finkelstein argues that it is flaws in the personality that cause failure. Mimicking Steven Covey, Finkelstein lists the seven habits of spectacularly unsuccessful people: They see themselves and their companies as dominating their environments. The CEO believes he is personally pre-eminent. They see.....
Read MoreThe Emotional Intelligence of Pfeffers Power
I recently finished reading Jeffery Pfeffer’s Power: Why some people have it – and others don’t. One of my favourite quotes from my venture capital days is “Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.” Power is about the anti-entrepreneurs, people who join large organisations in government and business and seek to rise to the top. This book is the complete antithesis of most gur.....
Read MoreWhy Should Anyone Be Led By You?
Rob Goffee, who is the professor of organisational behaviour at London Business School, is famous for asking the above question in an awarded HBR article which then morphed into a book. Rob often comes to Australia, (towards the end of the English winter) and has spoken several times to LBS alumni. I well remember his first talk when he was putting forward his latest theory of leadership, saying the secret was authenticity. As the doyen of the alumni present, Rob asked me what I thought of auth.....
Read MoreChris Golis - Author
"Put in a sales perspective, I loved your presentation! I got a lot from what you talked about and I will read your book."
Peter Morris, Executive Officer, Lomax Financial Group
Your presentation on 'Lifting your Level of Emotional Intelligence" to 10 CEOs scored an average 8.9 out of 10 for the topic and 8.5 for the presentation which is great. A couple of the attendees gave you a 10 out of 10, and the comments were:
- Great presentation. Very informative.
- Excellent presentation.
- made me think.
Christi Spring CEO Institute. - web www.ceo.com.au.