Character

Facing fear makes you a better leader

Imagine you’ve shown up for three days of leadership training. On the first night, you’ve settled in for a good night’s sleep when someone wakes you and takes you to a nearby bay for a two-mile swim. That’s how former Navy SEAL Rob Roy kicks off his 80-hour leadership course inspired by military combat prep.

With power comes responsibility

Oscar-winning actor Cliff Robertson lived the kind of leadership he portrayed as Peter Parker’s uncle in “Spiderman” delivering the line that gave “Spiderman” its moral heft: “With great power comes great responsibility.”

Gauging your team's moral compass

In hiring, use questions or case studies to screen out amoral individuals. In leading, make your value system explicit.

Gordie Howe, the Great One's great one

They called him Mr. Hockey for good reason. He was one of the sport’s icons. “If people someday compare me to Gordie Howe, it will be the biggest compliment they could pay me,” says Wayne Gretzky, who broke several of Howe’s records. “If you ask me about my idol, there’s just one: Gordie.” Howe offers this advice to leaders:

Push forward for your team

Staff Sgt. Robert Miller was moving with his men through the Kunar province of Afghanistan when they were ambushed. Shot through both sides of his chest, he died before his teammates could extract him from the battle, saving his unit and killing 16 insurgents and wounding 30 others. Last year, his family was presented with his Medal of Honor.

Leadership Tips: Vol. 511

Lay yourself off? That’s what the owner of Accurate Background Check in Florida did when business slowed down. She took another job and retained her nine longtime employees.

3 measures of a strong personal brand

You already have a personal brand. But how strong is it? Are you using it to make a difference for others? To determine its strength, measure three things:

Nuggets coach comes back strong

Denver Nuggets coach George Karl returns to the bench after battling throat and neck cancer and brings with him a few lessons in survival:

What bravery means

Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese dissident kept under house arrest for 15 years, shows these traits of a leader: She has a vision, is fearless and keeps her enemies close.

Earn a leadership merit badge

If you think about it, the whole process of starting with learning the basics of any discipline and methodically working your way up to some level of mastery makes sense for undertakings far beyond Boy Scout merit badges.  It led me to consider, “If there were a merit badge for organizational leadership, what would the requirements be?”

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