In WOMEN AND THE PARADOX OF POWER Dr. Anne Perschel and Jane Perdue report that corporate executives leave money on the table and forgo future success by failing to advance more women to senior leadership roles. The two researchers identify specific actions leaders can take to change this picture.They also suggest businesswomen prepare themselves to take on influential leadership roles by understanding and using power more effectively. Perschel and Perdue identify 5 actions for women and 3 for current leaders that will advance women into senior leadership roles and produce better bottom line results for their companies.

In 1999 Kent Thiry became CEO of DaVita, a provider of kidney dialysis treatments. The company was on the verge of bankruptcy. It had revenues of $1.4 billion, losses of $56 million, and a share price of about $2. By June 7, 2013, after the culture change, share prices grew to $125.50. This magnificent turnaround resulted from changing the culture, and to succeed at that Thury applied 3 principles for leading culture change.

People are more inclined to implement ideas they helped develop than ideas developed for them. The reasons are simple and straightforward. The drive for Identity, knowing and being valued for who I am, is an important force in the western world. (Some cultures are driven more by group identity.) We like to see the our identity played out concretely, by way of what we produce and our affect on the world around us. Ipso facto – when leading culture change get the people’s fingerprints on the clay that molds the change.

Leading culture change is critical to the success of today’s business executives, and story telling for culture change is a must-have skill. Read more about the role of story telling in leading change.

High potential talent comes in all colors, sizes, ages, and in both genders. Some companies intentionally search diverse areas of the talent pool, but few, if any, explore the place where some of the greatest talent swims, because they don’t know where it is. Discover this secret place, here.

Once upon a time, there was a mid-size company run by men. It was called The Company. The entire executive team and all board directors at The Company was comprised of men. That seemed just fine, until… One day, for reasons still unknown, but about which I speculate later, the CEO invited a woman onto the board.

If you’ve given someone who works for you verbal feedback two or three times, and still nothing changes, you might try action feedback instead.

It is not often that one gets to talk openly, honestly and with shared vulnerability to the leader behind the curtain. From that secret place much is revealed and there is much I have learned.. I invite you to join me in doing so, together.

Why is the latest greatest product improvement so often anything but improved? Could it be that reaching for more revenue and higher profits outweighs customer delight? Why hasn’t it occurred to someone, somewhere, that these factors are related?

Leading sometimes requires that you step back to lead forward. Learn when, why, and how while discovering a law of organizational physics.

Fear not the blank canvas for the leader is an artist who paints the future, inspiring others to make it real.