Leadership Matters
The ALPS Blog presents fresh thinking on the concepts and principles that guide exceptional leadership. To be fully competent, and remain so, you must stay curious: constantly questioning, learning and growing.
Our aim is to provide though-provoking insight to stir your curiosity and inspire you to think more efficaciously about leadership. The short essays and deeper articles will challenge what may seem to be conventional wisdom to broaden your perspective – and guide you on your journey towards being a better leader.
Epictetus wrote:
“It is impossible to begin to learn that which one thinks one already knows.”
or as Dr. Lee Thayer suggests:
Learning = Growth, and Growth = Life.
The Best way to manage your company better is to learn to lead your people more effectively.
These short essays and articles below will elevate your performance as a leader and help your organization achieve better results.
I am wrong. And you are wrong!
Shared tragedy is a powerful force that binds people in unexpected ways. The survivors of [...]
Inspiring Courageous Curiosity in an Increasingly Reactive World
Discovering new ways of approaching old problems excites me. I quickly become bored doing the [...]
Exploring the Workings of a Successful Leader’s Mind
I had never really considered that there was a difference between my mind and my [...]
Leadership and Navigating Beyond Our Blind Spots
Iain is a British colleague born and raised in the United Kingdom. He is my [...]
How Much is Your Reputation Worth?
I look at the dysfunctional things caused by incompetent people, feel compelled to get involved, [...]
Leadership, Power, and Influence: Why Influence Always Trumps Authority
Is it the person or the forces they command that define powerful leaders? The romantic [...]
To Make Better, More Courageous Decisions, Think “Horses and Zebras”
“When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras.” My daughter shared this adage with me [...]
Curious Cats, Thirsty Horses, and the Joyful Pursuit of Intoxication
The most crucial quality I look for when choosing people to surround myself with is [...]
Life: In No Uncertain Terms
I have often wondered why I have always felt antagonistic towards religion. Throughout my religious [...]
What We Need Right Now Aren’t Better Answers, It’s Better Questions
From my view of the world, questions are more powerful than answers. Working with the [...]
Chasing Relative Certainty in an Entirely Uncertain World
Benjamin Franklin is generally the cited source of the quote, “In this world, nothing can [...]
Generals do Not Manage Troops into Battle: Why You Must Lead People
I was recently invited to give some brief remarks at a local, regional economic development [...]
A Valuable Lesson in Leadership That You Probably Learned in Kindergarten
My first experience with the concept of leadership was playing “follow the leader” in kindergarten. [...]
Where Peter Drucker’s Guidance Runs Ashore
Peter F. Drucker wryly noted that the only requirement for being a leader is to [...]
Leadership Can Look Simple, But is Never Easy
For almost twenty years, I have helped executives develop the leadership skills they and [...]
Good Leadership Makes the Important Things Important
Organizational decision-making is the necessary and complex balancing of alignment and disagreement. That is particularly [...]
How Breathing Easier Can Improve Your Thinking and Your Leadership
Mostly, thinking is like breathing. Thoughts enter and leave my mind without much effort. But [...]
Finding Joy in Uncertainty and the Path to Success
I recently heard a radio spot promising, ‘The Joy of Certainty.” The commercial promoted the [...]
A Simple, Misunderstood Concept That Will Elevate the Performance of Your Company
For nearly twenty years, I have been a coach to scores of CEOs and an [...]
The Power of Approaching Life With Positive Expectations
Do you spend more of your time on problems or opportunities? How you think [...]
Why People Prefer Problems They Cannot Solve
Early in my coaching career with CEOs, I learned that most problems are subjective. People [...]
Why It’s More Important to Be Respected Than Liked
Reading about Knight’s passing, I recalled a pivotal encounter I had with Dr. Lee Thayer. [...]
What I Learned About Leadership Growing Up Was All Wrong
I was young and an inexperienced CEO when an ugly incident upended my beliefs about [...]
The Pyrex Paradox: How Acting Without Thinking Benefits You
Pyrex cookware is carefree and versatile. You can use it on a stovetop, transfer [...]
The Danger of Asking “Can I?” Before “Should I?”
The Art of Discerning What You Should Do Before Deciding What You Can (a [...]
Defend Against the Noise
Not long ago, the world was quieter, and my mind seemed better equipped to [...]
Stop Playing Whack-a-Mole (and manage your company better)
Dr. Lee Thayer, whose observations and proddings had a powerful and profound influence on [...]
To Elevate Your Leadership, Elevate Your Thinking
Most of the time, thinking is just like breathing. Thoughts just seem to enter and [...]
Broken Seashells — And the Search for Perfection
(This article was first published in Forbes online through the Coaches Council. You can find [...]
Hunting for Shark (Teeth)
Philip Liebman ALPS Leadership June 10, 2023 Long Beach Island, New Jersey The Sea [...]
What Made You a Leader? And how to be a better one.
People become leaders for different reasons. Some people believe it is their destiny, that somehow [...]
Are You Leading from Fear?
Are You Leading from Fear? How Emotions Can Elevate Your Effectiveness We often depict our [...]
Who Do You Talk with About How You Lead? (Other than Yourself)
by Phil Liebman, CEO & Founder When I reinvented my current life and career [...]
The Promise of Memorial Day – and the end of “Succession”
by Philip R. Liebman American holidays tend to be commercialized beyond recognition of their [...]
The More Things Change…
The French writer (and critic) Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr wrote, “The more things change, the more [...]
Happy New Day!
The other day a good friend and colleague asked when the appropriate time might [...]
A Dime to Make You a Courageous Listener & Better Leader
Listening is an art. Like with any art, people have differing degrees of natural talent. [...]
Celebrating Independence, Freedom, and Leadership
Independence Day is when Americans celebrate our freedoms and commemorate our independence from oppression. I [...]
Why Great Leaders All Think Like Entrepreneurs
Why Great Leaders All Think Like Entrepreneurs (and Not all Entrepreneurs are Great Leaders) A [...]
How to Cultivate Joy at Work
What were your summers like as a child? Like myself, most people I know looked [...]
How to Be an Employer of Choice
The One Thing Critical to Being an Employer of Choice: How to attract and retain [...]
(The Leader) Beneath the Cork
How Wine Can Improve Your Decision-Making and Make You a Better Leader Not everyone loves [...]
Attend Our Upcoming Wine, Dine & Learn Event on 6/16/22
June 16th- 17th & 1st Anniversary Awards Celebration At the Crystal Springs Resort in Vernon NJ [...]
To Become a Better Leader, Learn to Feel Like a Better Leader
People may not remember your name, your face, or where you are from. Most people [...]
Peak Performance: The Relentless Pursuit of Competence
There are all sorts of expressions to describe peak human performance. You might aim for [...]
The Stagecraft of Leadership: Performing on Life’s Stage
Volodymyr Zelensky, shown above with his family, established his public persona and his influence as [...]
The Art of Loving What You Do
Some people say, "if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in [...]
Fear, Shame, and Leadership
How You Were Educated Is the Reason Leaders Fail Ask any good grade schoolteacher what [...]
Take the Hot Pepper Leadership Challenge
Leaders never stop learning. Personal growth is often more critical than professional growth when it [...]
Why Great Leaders Never Litigate When They Can Illuminate
While change may be a constant in the universe, driving deliberate, purposeful, positive change in [...]
Again, We See Leadership Is a Performance Art
One More Thing to Thank Volodymyr Zelensky For Great leaders are exceptional performers; that is, [...]
How To Turn The Workforce Crisis Into An Opportunity and Advantage
At this stage of our COVID-19-Socio-Economic Recovery, the most prevalent, and perhaps precipitous concern facing [...]
Discovering Where Leadership Meets Success
I've heard it said that to find opportunity, you have to either be lucky or [...]
The 1 Thing You Cannot Control (& 2 Things You Must) To Be An Effective Leader
Success in business - and in almost every aspect of life - is a function [...]
This Simple, But Powerful Question Will Make You a Better Leader
One distinguishing characteristic of highly accomplished leaders is being a virtuoso questioner. If you make [...]
STOP and Smell the Flowers: A CEO Survival Skill
Leadership, at times, can be brutal. You can find yourself under constant pressure to perform. [...]
The Thing That Will Elevate Performance
Over the past 15 years working with CEOs and business leaders, more than anything else, [...]
The #1 Reason Well-Managed Companies Fail to Thrive
Over the past 15 years working with CEOs and business leaders, more than anything else, [...]
Taking Aim at Destroying Mediocrity
Through my work, I’ve come to recognize mediocrity as perhaps the most insidious threat to [...]
4 Things That Determine Success of Failure in Your Business
When you look at companies that either thrive, manage to survive, or fail, you can [...]
How To Stop Managing Other People’s Impressions Of You
How much energy do you waste on managing, worrying about, or adjusting your behavior in [...]
How The Small Things In Life Make You Happy
(And a Better Leader) I remember getting captured by the wisdom of “Don’t sweat the [...]
You Can Spot An Exceptional Leader By How They Leave
Leadership isn’t what you do – it’s what’s in your bones: it is who you [...]
The Trick to Learning to Be a Better Leader is Better Habits
Leadership has little to do with you know; it’s a set of behaviors. You can [...]
How To Spot an Outstanding Leader
There is no shortage of leaders in the world. The problem is that there are [...]
Your Words Matter – But Less Than You Think
As a leader, your role is to influence. You design and deliver what you communicate [...]
Use your WIP (Worthy Indelible Purpose) to Get Employees in Line!
The power you find when leading others with a clear and undeniable purpose is undeniable. [...]
Is Your Leadership Team In Need of A Refresh?
We live in a world and in a time that rewards companies that are agile, [...]
5 Mistakes CEOs Must Avoid Right Now
We are at an interesting and critical crossroads. The arrival of spring brings with it [...]
Stop Hiding Beneath the Armor: Learn to Lead Without Boundaries
It is much easier to say you are willing to be vulnerable and transparent than [...]
Why it is Dangerous to Settle for the Status Quo
Most of us take for granted what others believed to be impossible but have become [...]
Well, What Do You Expect?
There is an old saying, “expectations are premeditated resentments.” There is a notion that if [...]
Why You Have No ‘Right’ To Consider Yourself a Leader
Your rights to anything are always conditional. Every “right” you have or believe you should [...]
5 “C-Level” Leadership Secrets For Making Better Decisions
Most people in leadership roles feel a sense of obligation to those they serve. Those [...]
Why Leaders Who Know What To Do Fail Anyway
Leadership is measured by results. What you accomplish or what you fail to accomplish will [...]
Things Were Never More Like The Way They Are Now
"Things More Like They Way They Are Now - Than They Ever Were Before" The [...]
Why Leaders Need Perspective More Than Advice
If you’ve been a CEO for almost any length of time or any appointed or [...]
Start 2021 By Keeping it Simple
We will remember the year 2020 for many things, not the least of which will [...]
The Fearless Leader (And The Dragon)
Pop culture tends to romanticize leadership in novels, films, and even the new these days. [...]
A Simple & Sweet Recipe for Finding Joy
There is a lot of talk about how much people need to find joy and [...]
The COVID-Thanksgiving Paradox
The single most important and challenging responsibility of leadership is to bring people together in [...]
How To Lead In A Deeply Divided World
Note: To Read "The Covid-Thanksgiving Paradox" - Click Here The things that we [...]
“The Laws of Matter” And Accomplishing What Matters Most
I would argue that leadership is not rocket science. In fact, it’s far more art [...]
What Does It Take To Make Those You Lead Into Leaders?
To me, the critical quality of being a leader is the ability to develop others [...]
Leadership And The Need For Change
In a world where things never change, where everything is predictable, there would be little [...]
Why Leaders Must Be Smart Consumers
The French author Anthelme Brillat-Savarin in 1826 wrote: "Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are." [...]
It’s Good to Be “Positive” and “Infectious”
Most recently, these two words have taken on a new life of their own. Our [...]
3 Qualities That Will Jumpstart Your Performance
By some well-accepted standards, there are 29 measurable traits that are all useful in understanding [...]
Better Leadership Simply Explained
Better Leadership - Simply Explained and why coaching plays an essential role on your journey [...]
Labor Day, Brats and Being a Better Leader
Like most people, for me, Labor Day is one of the two bookends that contain [...]
The Road Out of Isolation
The Road Out of Isolation: How to achieve balance in an upside down world. In [...]
Fixing the Bad Habit Leaders Struggle With Most
In companies large and small almost everywhere in the world, there is a pernicious habit [...]
Where Are You Finding Your MoJo These Days?
There are so many people who are suffering and struggling through the times we are [...]
Integrity and Leadership
Integrity and Leadership: How to Deal With Truth, Courage and Slippery Facts There are two [...]
Do You Care Enough to Care Ruthlessly?
A Leadership Imperative: The concepts of caring and ruthlessness seem justifiably incompatible. They actually contradict [...]
The Art and Function of Productive Disagreement
How Necessary Dialogue Improves Leadership and Organizations There was a time when the art of [...]
Reimagining Leadership and Resilience
Leadership is 20% about observing and understanding what is happening now and 80% about being [...]
How Uncertainty Defines Leadership
In the face of uncertainty, it is understandable to ponder “what’s next?” It may seem [...]
Think Differently About Leadership and Your Hiring Practices
Hiring the talent you need has never been more important to your company – and [...]
Now is the Time for Exceptional Leaders to Upgrade Talent
The COVID-19 crisis has created a powerful opportunity in the talent pool filled with displaced [...]
3- Steps to Take Right Now to Capitalize on Uncertainty
The thing about uncertainty that is so powerful is how it influences your movement. For [...]
Remembering Lee Thayer
Lee Thayer passed away on May 31, 2020. By Phil Liebman I always said, Lee [...]
Finding Your MoJo In the Midst of a Pandemic
For many, COVID-19 has been excruciating, even deadly. While it has caused most people to [...]
What Are People Thinking?
This question is a phrase typically use in judgment of the behavior of others. It was [...]
Leaders Turn Fear Into Determination
In Times of Crisis Leaders Help People Turn Their Fear Into Determination People don’t fear [...]
How Competent Leaders Deal with Anger
People Have A Right to Be Angry: How Truly-Competent Leaders React Everybody experiences anger. Most [...]
Why Some Teams Outperform in Times of Crisis
The economic recovery that will follow the COVID Pandemic crisis will not be led by [...]
GROUP DYNAMICS: THE INSIDE STORY
GROUP DYNAMICS: THE INSIDE STORY ON TEAMS AND LEADING THEM Pat Murray "The role of [...]
Self-Care for Selfless Leaders
All serious-minded leaders take their work to heart. When you understand the gravity of your [...]
Confronting the New Abnormal:
Leading Through Isolation and Uncertainty Literally everyone I know is experiencing some level of [...]
Some Needed Good News
...for Business and Civic Leaders Right now, at this very moment, there is an opportunity [...]
The New Leadership Imperative
We look to leaders for strength, guidance and, in times like these of great need, [...]
Ten Things Leaders Must Consider Right Now
The responsibility we have as leaders right now is more important and more daunting than [...]
The Art of Leadership: Science and Uncertainty
Leadership needs most to show-up when uncertainty grips reality. When the choices you need to [...]
The Duality of Leadership
If you go to Amazon.com and type “leadership” into the search bar, you will find [...]
The Coronavirus and Creating Our Future
Leadership and Uncertainty: What the Coronavirus Suggests About Creating Our Future As best as we [...]
3 Lessons in Humility
Why We Fail to Accomplish What Matters Most There are many attributes that simply make [...]
Learning How to Slow Dance With Uncertainty
Learning How to Slow Dance With Uncertainty -A Lesson in Leadership Leadership is a dance. [...]
Does Being an Expert Make You a Better Leader?
What does expertise have to do with leadership? We know that being expert does not [...]
Exceptional Leaders Learn to Listen Differently
Good Leaders are Good Listeners, But to Be an Exceptional Leader, You Must Learn to [...]
Why You Must Invest in Leadership While Things are Good
Why You Must Invest in Exceptional Leadership (Especially When Business is Good) Most anyone who [...]
Who Has Inspired You?
Many people point to great leaders as a source of personal inspiration. Others credit revered [...]
Moving Mountains
Exceptional leadership moves mountains. It is not the leaders themselves who actually move the mountains. [...]
10 Leadership Stumbling Blocks To Overcome in the New Year
One great quality of a highly-competent leader is their ability to turn stumbling blocks into [...]
The Art of Accomplishing What Really Matters
How do you assess the competence of a leader? It is clearly what they cause [...]
How to Reverse an Alarming Trend
And Improve Performance and Profitability in Your Company and Restore Sanity in the World As [...]
What Is Sustainable Leadership? And Why it Matters.
Sustainability has become a hot topic for good reason. Too much of how we have [...]
The Temptation of Leadership
Why be a leader? Is it a calling? A sense of duty? Some people fall [...]
Are You Ready? Preparing to Address the Next Decade.
How prepared is your company for addressing the challenges and opportunities of the next decade? [...]
How to Finally Stop Excuses -And Get People to Take Responsibility
Excuses fester. They may seem like harmless natural artifacts of poor decisions, lack of preparation [...]
Why Leadership Training Fails – and How to Stem the Current Leadership Crisis
And How to Stem the Current Leadership Crisis The growing recognition that effective leadership is [...]
Why Leaders Fail – How To Solve Our Leadership Crisis
"In the fields of observation chance favors only the prepared mind." So noted the renowned scientist, Louis [...]
How “10-95″ Journaling Will Make You a Better Leader
The most distinguishing difference between what is required to lead people as opposed to managing [...]
Why To Stop Leading People Like Sheep – A Lesson in Human Leadership
It may seem caring and even magnanimous to think of the people you lead as [...]
3 Reasons Why We Fail Without Humility
There are many attributes that simply make us better people, regardless of our role or [...]
How Prepared Are You to Be a Leader? (And what to do if you are not.)
There is an old adage that suggests success is 90% preparation and 10% perspiration. It [...]
Stop Looking To The Past for Answers in Order To Be a More Effective Leader
People turn to leaders for many things. They look for direction, clarity and for purpose. [...]
What The Events of 9-11 Teach Us That Will Make You a Better CEO
For most Americans on 9/11 - exactly 18 years ago today, the horror we witnessed [...]
Why Do We Prefer Problems We Cannot Solve Over Solutions We Do Not Like?
The greatest responsibility and often the biggest challenge for a leader is driving deliberate, positive [...]
One Simple Thing About Management CEOs and Leaders Need to Understand
It was Grace Margaret Hopper, the first woman to achieve the rank of Rear Admiral [...]
Why Talent Isn’t The Best Predictor of Performance
Why Your Most Talented Employees Aren’t Your Best Performers - And One Thing CEOs Need [...]
What is the One Things All CEOs Need, Cannot Get Too Much Of— And Are Completely Surprised By This One Place Where They Can Find It?
by Philip Liebman, Founder/CEO The answer is: unvarnished truth. As a CEO you are [...]
Why Leadership is a Journey – Not a Destination
By Phil Liebman, CEO ALPSLeadership What comes to mind when you think about leadership? People [...]
Questions Leaders Must Stop Asking- And What to Ask Instead
By —Phil Liebman, CEO and Founder, ALPS Leadership Voltaire wrote, "Judge a man by [...]
The Pitfalls of Mediocrity – And How to Avoid Them
I used to believe that aiming for the middle was a good strategy for success. [...]
Should Leaders be Warm and Fuzzy?
Being principled, humanistic, idealistic or even altruistic in how you perform your role as a [...]
Innovation and The Future of Leadership
Innovation and entrepreneurship are the bedrock of modern civilization. We depend on those willing to [...]
Why Making Employees Happy Won’t Improve Performance, But Doing This Will…
It has essentially become conventional wisdom that happy people are our most productive workers. Clearly [...]
Why Authentic Leadership Fails
There is a romanticized image of The Authentic Leader, teaming with empathy, vulnerability and conviction. [...]
The Paradox of (and need for) Ruthlessly Caring
We sometimes call it, "tough love." There are situations where the best thing we should [...]
The True Measure of Leadership is Found in One Surprising Tell-Tale Sign
Peter F. Drucker once quipped that all it takes to be a leader is to [...]
How to Tell if You Are a “Lawnmower Leader” or a Good Leader?
If you feel the need to clear the way for the success of the people [...]
3 Reasons Why We Fail Without Humility
There are many attributes that simply make us better people, regardless of our role or [...]
Five Things That Make a Great Leader
We live in a world ripe with enormous opportunity, and filled with equally enormous problems [...]
3 Clues: What Competent Leadership Looks Like
We naturally expect our leaders to be competent. We should actually demand it. But when [...]
How Do You Measure Leadership Strength? (Why Moving Mountains Defines Great Leaders)
There is only one thing that truly measures leadership. It is accomplishment. And there are [...]
Why “To-Do” Lists Don’t Work- and “To-Be” Lists Do
We’ve been trained to keep these lists of reminders to help us organize our lives. [...]
Why Some People Never Learn: Lessons in Leadership
We are all born learners. As human beings we arrive in life totally unable to [...]
i don’t want to be your boss
I don't want to tell you what to do or what not to do. I [...]
The Art and Heart of Leadership – Part One
Often, the thing we notice about great leadership is that it is the result of someone [...]
The Art and Heart of Leadership – Part Two
To read Part One of this post: please CLICK HERE - This is an unusually [...]
What Business Leaders Can Learn From What Makes Finland The Happiest Country on Earth
The UN Happiness report sites six criteria for the basis of their rankings. The key [...]
The Top 3 Things Leaders Must Unlearn
There are three things that most people in leadership positions believe that undermine their ability to be [...]
How Women Make Leadership Look Easy
Don't let anyone try to fool you. Leadership is hard work. Plenty of people are [...]
Cultivating MoJo – How Competent Leaders Inspire Exceptional Performance
By Phil Liebman, CEO, ALPS Leadership Everyone needs Mojo. Most people have some, and some [...]
Excuses are the Currency of Dysfunctional Organizations
If We Stop Buying Excuses Will People Stop Peddling Them? Excuses are the currency of [...]
Thinking Differently About What An Entrepreneur Really Is
There is one thing every successful entrepreneur has done that every CEO and anyone who [...]
2 Questions Every CEO Should Ask to Instantly Build More Effective Leadership Habits
There are two reasons people do things: because they can; and because they have to. [...]
A Magical Way To Transform Your Company’s Culture?
Chasing The Culture Fairy: In Pursuit of a Fully Competent Organization Is there really some [...]
Why It’s The Organization That Makes the Leader – Not the Other Way Around
Look at great organizations, those that perform and achieve at the highest levels - and [...]
Get Behind the Wheel of a High-Performance Organization
Would you even consider the purchase of a high-performance car without having test driven it [...]
What Kind of Hero Are You?
There are two kinds of heroes. There are those who willingly risk their lives and [...]
I Did This On Purpose
The idea that leadership should connect to some sense of “purpose” is clearly in vogue [...]