What's Don Thinking?

Anyone can become a great leader with the proper training and environment. Experts tell us this:

• “Leaders are made, not born!”
• “Leadership can be nurtured into existence!”
• “Nature versus nurture? Clearly, nurture wins!”
• “Invest in leadership training and...

An HR executive asked, “How do you know when someone comes up after a speech if they’re going to pat your head or slap it?” I laughed. Challenging the status quo is risky, but after 2,000 speeches I’m starting to get the hang of it. I don’t want to cause trouble. I...

The "boiled frog" laboratory experiment helps educate people on how slow, incremental changes may not be noticed until it’s too late. In the experiment, if you put a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will jump right out. But if you put it in cool water that you slowly heat...

Anyone learning leadership from business schools, bestselling books, and motivational speakers knows that great leaders:

1. Show empathy
2. Are good listeners
3. Embrace change
4. Create a mission or vision
5. Develop their followers
6. Communicate
7. Build trust
8. Articulate clear goals and roles
9....

 NOTE: Smithsonian just published that Merriam-Webster’s 2023 Word of the Year Is ‘Authentic’ - As technology’s ability to manipulate reality improves, we’re all searching for the truth. (November 29, 2023)

We all want people, products, and services to be...

Good management consultants, trainers, coaches, speakers, and industry experts inspire us to be winners. Many use popular metaphors to motivate us. One I hear a lot at conferences and in books is “you gotta be the lead dog.” You probably heard these phrases too in books and at...

How often have you heard a keynote speaker or management expert preach how small changes in leadership make a big impact? They're referring to something called the Butterfly Effect: a physics concept that the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil can set off a tornado in...

What do the Ancient Samurai have to do with business?