Collaboration CEO Archives

Recent Articles

FACING CRISES AND CHALLENGES IN OUR WORKS’ ARENA…

Our colleague Casey Fletcher sent me a Wall Street Journal article that describes several crises solved where “humility” was a key factor in the solution. Here’s the link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-a-life-or-death-crisis-humility-is-everything-11564133402?mod=mhp The article author Sam Walker describes the situations and how the heroes responded to resolve. He points out four characteristics that existed to attain the best results possible. Expertise – The leaders had solid, professional experience. They had logged many hours. Seen many things. They were able

Howe Q. Wallace July 26, 2019

TRUST – RESPECT – INDEPENDENCE – COLLABORATION – KINDNESS

You’ve probably never heard of Esther Wojcicki. She is a high school teacher in Palo Alto, CA who has a reputation for making a huge difference to students throughout her career. She is known as “Woj”. But, she and her husband Stan also raised three very accomplished daughters: Susan (CEO of YouTube), Janet, a Fulbright-winning anthropologist, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and researcher, and Anne(co-founder of 23andMe). YouTube is owned by Google. 23andMe is a ground-breaking genetics company making great headway into

Howe Q. Wallace May 14, 2019

THE REASON I WRITE THESE NOTES…

It’s a privilege to share these notes every day. Why do I write them? My goal is to capture the “corporate knowledge” and deliver it to all of you. When anyone in our organization is confronted with a situation where there is uncertainty about what to do, I want all these notes to form the voice in your head that guides you to the best decision. There are some of you who have read these

Howe Q. Wallace May 7, 2019

LISTENERS, OPTIMISTIC AND HARDINESS…THREE GOOD LEADERSHIP TRAITS!

I subscribe to a business magazine Fortune. One of their issues each year involves them listing the top 50 Leaders in the World. As they identify these leaders, they offer characteristics that they share to help them achieve this status. Here are three: Listeners – Good listeners lean in, acknowledge what they’re hearing, no interruptions, good listening body language. When the listener speaks, she asks great, insightful questions. Optimism – Our COO Matt Sheffield says

Howe Q. Wallace May 6, 2019

STRENGTH, SPEED AND AGILITY IS THE MISSION…

“When strength is the mission, hard is the standard and work is the requirement. When comfort is the objective, easy is acceptable and effort is an afterthought.” – Brian Kight. Another good thought from organizational consultant Brian Kight. “When strength is the mission” I heard very many years ago that successful organizations are strong, fast and agile. Strong enough to face the challenges and embrace the opportunities. Fast enough to be quick on the scene

Howe Q. Wallace April 26, 2019

WEEDING OUT NEGATIVITY…

“Building a great team is not just about feeding the positive. We must also weed the negative. Identify it. Confront it. Transform it. Remove it.” – Jon Gordon One of the cultural tenets we work under is “purge negativity”. Gordon’s imperative of weeding the negative resonates. We’ve all heard it: “one rotten apple spoils the barrel”. I like the order Gordon provides. Identify it: Negativity doesn’t hide. It intends to be noticed. It is aggressive

Howe Q. Wallace April 25, 2019

WHAT IS YOUR TRUST REPUTATION?

You have one, whether you want one or not. Your spouse. Your kids. Your colleagues. Your friends. Everyone you interact with has classified you as trustworthy or not. It’s the music that runs in the background of every group of people. Trust lubricates things. It cuts down on friction. When trusting relationships get sideways, the presence of trust allows folks to communicate with courage, say what needs to be said, work quickly for solutions. Our

Howe Q. Wallace April 16, 2019

TIGER WOODS STORY OF REDEMPTION

Did you hear that Tiger Woods won a golf tournament yesterday? Good! Just checking that all your gadgets work. I think Tiger winning ranks as one of the unlikeliest occurrences in sport. Think of it: He’s old. Most guys his age are beginning to wind down their pro golf career. Their strength is waning as well as their nerves. It’s rare a man his age is competing at such a level. His body is fragile.

Howe Q. Wallace April 15, 2019

WHEN ADDRESSING A PROBLEM, DO YOU SPEAK FROM THE HEART?

Have you developed the skill of “courageous communication”? I don’t know if you noticed, but the times where there aren’t some problems to address are rare. When problems exist, you have a choice. Will I address it or tolerate it? In the end, the condition of the team/family/relationship where you are involved will be based on what is tolerated and what gets addressed. My experience is that we are all prone to tolerate as compared

Howe Q. Wallace February 8, 2019

What’s An Environment Where You ‘Earn” Respect?

If we are wise, we give people opportunities to “earn” respect as well as extend the courtesy of “owed” respect. What’s an environment where you “earn” respect? What does it look like? Our annual survey gives us a bunch of clues: We make expectations clear. When people know what is expected, they have targets for which to aim. Giving a person a target and letting them play is an invitation for respect. Hitting expectations is

Howe Q. Wallace January 28, 2019

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Articles About Leadership

THE JUICE IS WORTH THE SQUEEZE

“Everything you want is on the other side of ‘hard’.” – CJ McCollum, NBA player McCollum is a story of overachievement. He was undersized. Played college basketball at a non-descript school. Was a long shot to be an NBA player but worked his way to being a first-round draft pick and was a solid star in his 10th year in the league. I heard him describe his approach to the game and his development on a podcast called

Howe Q. Wallace March 25, 2024

HAPPENING TO THE WORLD – A SATISFYING WAY TO LIVE

PalletOne leaders “happen to the world.” What does that mean? A PalletOne leader is confident. Each situation creates an opportunity for service and contribution. We are talented and put those talents to work. We see those around us as having talent. We seek to unlock it. We realize that we can be called upon to take the initiative to improve things at any moment. We act when the situation calls for it. We inspire through

Howe Q. Wallace March 25, 2024

SUFFERING AND CHALLENGES

“Weep, trust, pray, think, shift, hope, grow. Ways to handle suffering.” – Tim Keller Tim Keller was a preacher from New York City. He passed away in 2023. I followed him on Twitter because he tweeted profound thoughts like the one above. You don’t exit life without tough things happening to you. It’s a fact. None of us are exempt. In specific order, Keller gave us seven verbs to consider when challenged: Weep – It’s

Howe Q. Wallace March 22, 2024