David McCleary's Blog

The age of conspicuous consumption, the transaction-accumulation age of the deal has culturally birthed the age of the empty suit, lost leaders in search of identities. Our societies and citizens are stuffed full of emptiness, and too many leaders are largely unknowable, distant and unaware. Leaders have become as good as the deal they strike, the payoff they receive, the package they negotiate. Actions, even lives, are crafted on alters of cosmic vending machines in hopes of many happy...

Continuing our leadership interview series, Gwyn Teatro weighs in on our questions about the current leadership landscape. Gwyn's blog is www.gwynteatro.wordpress.com. Here are her thoughts on leadership:

What is one of the most critical questions leaders should consider today?  Why?

There are probably a lot of questions that should be considered but I'm thinking that the question, "Are we in the right forest?" is a good place to start.

It is so easy to get caught up in day-to-day matters that l...

Our next interview on leadership is with Harry Tucker. Harry Tucker is consumed by excellence in leadership incubation, servant leadership, collaboration, personal excellence and personal authenticity. He believes that current social, political and ecological conditions warrant a sense of urgency to incubate these leadership attributes in others. You can connect with, read his blog, and learn more about Harry at www.HarryTucker.com. Here's the interview:

What is one of the most critical...

As a part of our ongoing series with leadership thought leaders – Sharlyn Lauby graced us with an interview and offered her thinking on the cutting edge of leadership. (By the way, I love the name of her blog – www.HRBartender. com)

What is one of the most critical questions leaders should consider today and why?

The question is, what does the future of work look like?  The free agent economy is right around the corner and organizations need to learn how to operate under that talent model...

Following is the transcript of the speech I delivered today at the Tea Party rally – Independence Hall – Philadelphia, PA

This speech is titled "The Leadership of Liberty" and is intended to be a discourse on leadership at its current state in the US political arena. I do not favor either political party, I favor the freedom of people. Early indications were the many people liked the speech, but some politicians did not. Go figure.

-       Fourteen years prior to our Country's Independence in 1...

The 76 million baby-boomer Americans born between 1946 and 1964 are poised to flood the retirement market this decade. As they exit stage left, the dramatic drop in birth rates from one generation to the next will create a resounding thud. The 46 million Americans that form generation X not only have big shoes to fill – they have too many shoes to fill. The demographic reality of having about 40% less leaders to fill vacant leadership positions during the next decade is more than just cause f...

Adolf Hitler was undoubtedly an influencer, but he was emphatically not a leader. He was a manipulator, a coercer, and a consummate extortionist, but he was not a leader. It is high time that we distinguish between tyranny and leadership. To define leadership as mere influence is to emasculate its inherent morality and disrespect the intrinsic willingness of followers.

A leader is a disrupter, a fire-starter, someone who goes around turning things right-side-up. This natural disturbance...

The US Congress is both the most powerful branch of American government and the most dysfunctional. Congress makes the laws, mints the money, spends the money, approves judiciary nominations, and oversees the executive branch. In the land of checks and balances, they made out well. Those in congress simultaneously walk two tenuous tightropes: representation and collaboration. They are to protect and advocate for their constituencies as well as to collaboratively govern with those with whom...

The following excerpt is from an Alwyn Cosgrove blog from late 2008. Alwyn is a fitness coach, but these principles apply well to leadership. Don't get caught living in the self-inflated space of the typically difficult. To grow requires a "full throttle, comprehensive difficult." There is no treading water. We are all either shrinking or growing. You are not living fully unless you are out of your depth. Where are you?

Alwyn Cosgrove wrote:

This is a concept that I learned from one of my...

When a leader confidently ceases strolling on the water and people are staring in awe at their otherworldly success, they often turn stupid for a while. Pundits have mused that if President Lincoln had not been assassinated, he would have been impeached for his efforts at reconstruction, even though he had recently ended civil war and slavery. President George W. Bush was extremely successful in the 9/11 aftermath, but became a subsequent travesty of leadership during his second term in...