Lead on Purpose

Promoting Leadership Principles in Product Management

Tag Archives: Leadership


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How gratitude expands leadership

Today is Memorial Day in the United States. While many here gather as family and kick off the summer season, Memorial Day goes much deeper. We recognize those men and women who have both dedicated and given their lives for our freedom. Two of my friends currently serve in the US Armed Forces. I am deeply grateful for their dedication.

Memorial Day is also a time to remember our own ancestors and show gratitude for the sacrifices they have made to give us what we have today. So many have given so much to make this world a better place.

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Leadership that stands the test of time

You know for sure whether leadership ideas and practices work by how long they last. The new ideas we come up with today will take time to prove themselves—that’s the tricky part.

One of the great leaders of the past—whose teachings and ideas have held strong for more than 150 years—is Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States. He was an uncharacteristic leader for his time, perhaps even more so for our time, and yet his principles and teachings on leadership have withstood the test of time.

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Why we trust leaders who admit their mistakes

Guest post by Steven J. Stowell Ph.D. 

Anyone in a leadership position knows that mistakes are inevitable.

They can hit at any time and it may not even be a direct result of your actions. But there is one mistake that is worse than the actual mishap.

If you want to dig a deeper hole for yourself then refuse to admit to your mistakes.

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How leadership links to independence and prosperity

Today in the United States we’re celebrating Independence Day. This is a special time because it represents the efforts of great leaders, in the late 1700s, who risked everything to form a new country where people could pursue their dreams. Those men were not only great leaders in their day, but their influence continues to inspire others—all around the world—to step up and do great things.

I’m not a historian, but I have read enough about the US Founding Fathers to understand their vision that forming a country where people were free to pursue their dreams would lead to innovation, industry and prosperity. They knew that given the opportunity, individuals would rise up and do great things. They were right.

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Why leadership is an endurance race

Success is a marathon, not a sprint. The only way to truly prepare for a marathon is to train, to practice, to run. You need to get out on the road. You need to put in the miles. It takes time, it takes effort, and sometimes it hurts a lot.

As the great marathon runner Juma Ikanga said after winning the New York Marathon: “The will to win is nothing without the will to prepare.” You can want to win more than anyone else in the world, yet if you do not put in the work, it will not matter.

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3 strategies to lead when you can’t mandate

Most organizations are made up of teams that work together to accomplish a common objective. Within those teams are individuals who are responsible for specific tasks. The combination of those tasks create the desired outcome. What is the secret to influencing others to work together effectively?

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How leaders create great companies with stakeholders

Thanks to the Industrial Age we (still) live in a world where most companies hire employees. They look for people with the right education, who have been trained with the right skills to do their job.  They create a human factory of sorts.

The ‘employee’ world is changing, albeit slowly. Smart owners are seeing increased productivity and profits by turning their employees into stakeholders. Stakeholders take initiative, they take ownership, they solve problems. Stakeholders don’t wait around passively for something to happen; they make it happen. Stakeholders do great things.

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How leaders rise above the distractions

The corporate world is full of distractions. Many companies go to great lengths to provide workers with the tools, culture and environment to work productively, but workers still form habits that are killing their productivity. Texting, social media and email provide a constant stream of distractions. According to Challenger, Gray and Christmas, employees participating in March Madness (the NCAA basketball tournament)—between filling out brackets and watching games online—could cost a total loss of productivity approaching $4 billion.

How can leaders deal with workplace distractions effectively? How do individuals avoid interruptions and stay focused?

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Why leadership is a choice

Are leaders born or are they made? Think about some of the great leaders you know…were they born with the ancestry, knowledge or foresight to reach what they have accomplished? Perhaps in a few cases some had extra help. However, most of the great leaders I know came from humble beginnings. They made decisions along the way, which improved their chances and guided them to success. They made the choice to become a leader.

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