The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) just reached a historically large $3.7 billion settlement agreement with Wells Fargo Bank to pay consumers for harm caused by its ”widespread mismanagement of auto loans, mortgages, and deposit accounts.” According to the CFPB, the company ”repeatedly misapplied loan payments, wrongfully foreclosed on homes and illegally reposses...

Ten years ago, 33 miners were rescued after enduring 69 days trapped 700 meters (2300 feet) below ground after a cave-in of their copper-gold mine in Chile. The world waited for 17 days before the miners were able to communicate that they were still alive. The miners survived the ordeal through exceptional effort and leadership. Here are 5 leadership lessons from their experience.

Before he was elected as South Africa’s president, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela spent 27 years in prison, from his mid-forties to his early seventies. Eighteen of those years were spent on Robben Island, a former island leper colony turned into a brutal prison. Instead of breaking him, that ordeal shaped Mandela into the extraordinary man that emerged whe...

I adopted two retired racing greyhounds several years ago. Despite their fierce racing image, greyhounds are gentle-natured and don’t need much exercise. Their ability to sleep all day has earned them the nickname “40 mph couch potatoes.” Because of their careers as racers, however, they do require unique care to adjust to life in a ho...

I wrote an article on LinkedIn about the lessons I learned as a suburban kid who got shipped out to work on the family dairy farms during summer school breaks. That article hit a wellspring from people who grew up on farms and shared their own lessons that have helped them in their careers after the farm.

Here are the 5 biggest leadership lessons...

Congratulations! You just got the big promotion to management. People now report to you, you have some budget, and you have some decision-making authority. In short, your new role comes with power. Just like electricity, power is a very useful asset but can be dangerous if misused. Here are 7 tips for how to use your power so you don't abuse or lose it.

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Lake Wobegon is a fictional town in Garrison Keillor’s long-running radio show A Prairie Home Companion where it is jokingly said “all the children are above average.” While I am conversationally-dangerous enough in statistics theory to explain how this is possible – hint: average of what? – the point of the joke is insight...

Creating a mission statement is a useful way to ensure that everyone in your organization has a consistent understanding of the reason why your organization exists. It is particularly useful for new organizations to lay out to help make...

Over my 20+ years as a consultant and executive, I’ve learned many lessons about how to design a new organization or redesign an existing one. I have summarized those lessons learned into the following six organizational design principles you may want to consider if you are designing a new organization.

Levels ̵...

A values statement can be a very useful thing to keep an organization centered on its purpose as it grows and expands. The value statement identifies the few core values and beliefs that the organization has embedded in its core t...