Early in my coaching career with CEOs, I learned that most problems are subjective. People view problems differently, sometimes very differently. Problem-solving skills rank high among the things that determine a business leader's competence and success. Much of my work focuses on helping clients change how they look at problems and helping them identify ways [...]
Reading about Knight’s passing, I recalled a pivotal encounter I had with Dr. Lee Thayer. In my early days as a Fellow at the Thayer Institute, a debate I soundly lost left a lasting impression that I greatly underestimated the importance of until some years later. Our debate was over what it takes to be [...]
I was young and an inexperienced CEO when an ugly incident upended my beliefs about leadership. It made me realize that what I thought I understood about leadership was entirely insufficient – and wrong. My father led the company for many years before me. He felt responsible for putting food on the tables for the [...]
Pyrex cookware is carefree and versatile. You can use it on a stovetop, transfer it to a hot oven, and then a table to serve from. I didn’t know you could not apply direct heat to an empty Pyrex container. Without contents to distribute the heat, it will crack - or worse. I was [...]
The Art of Discerning What You Should Do Before Deciding What You Can (a lesson in courage) By Phil Liebman A well-intentioned family member passionately preached to me that the mind is powerful and amazing. “With preparation and the right attitude, you can do practically anything and achieve things you never thought possible.” This [...]
Not long ago, the world was quieter, and my mind seemed better equipped to deal with the level of input my senses gathered. It was also easier to let my mind idle if I wanted to. Sometimes, I would struggle to find or invent things to occupy my mind. Nowadays, I work to slow [...]
Dr. Lee Thayer, whose observations and proddings had a powerful and profound influence on my understanding of leadership and why businesses and organizations generally struggle, offered a clear explanation of why most companies are managed poorly and fail to realize their potential. Thayer observed that "people prefer problems they cannot solve over solutions they [...]
Most of the time, thinking is just like breathing. Thoughts just seem to enter and leave your mind without much effort. At other times, when you are feeling excited or anxious, your mind begins to race, accelerating your thinking, even to the point of being overwhelming. And at other times, your thinking might be labored [...]
(This article was first published in Forbes online through the Coaches Council. You can find it here. ) Having recently spent several quiet days on nearly empty beaches at the New Jersey Shore, I spent hours admiring the beauty of all the broken shells and fragments scattered along the ungroomed sands. Searching unsuccessfully for elusive sharks’ [...]
Philip Liebman ALPS Leadership June 10, 2023 Long Beach Island, New Jersey The Sea Shore of New Jersey is still quiet and nearly empty mid-week in early June. And the beaches are mostly undisturbed by the grooming that prepares the sand each morning for the crowds during the busy summer months. It’s a wonderful [...]
