Greg Bustin Executive Leadership Blog

Forty-eight years ago today, our third grade teacher sent us home early.

President Kennedy had been fatally wounded.

From the time John Kennedy took office to that fateful day in November 1963, JFK was in office just two years, 10 months and three days. 

1,036 days earlier, in an inauguration speech delivered on a bitterly cold January day, President Kennedy painted a bright new future. Not just for Americans, but for every citizen of the world.  click here for more...

As the NBA Finals unfolded six weeks ago, the Dallas Mavericks claimed the title from the Dallas Cowboys as “America’s Team.”

It seemed basketball fans everywhere – except in Florida – wanted the Mavs to win.

The reasons the Mavs captured the hearts of so many have been discussed at length.

When the Mavericks won the NBA championship over the super-star-studded Miami Heat, basketball purists hailed it as a victory for teams that understand there are few shortcuts to winning.

There’s no question you’ve got to have talent to win. In sports. In business.

Yet it takes more than talent to win.

How did a bunch of old guys and cast-offs beat a team loaded with so much All-Pro talent?

It happens more often than you might realize.   click here for more...

In college, I played drums in a jazz band numbering some 20 musicians.
The leader – Dick Goodwin, a highly regarded music professor, well-traveled musician and a very cool guy – had few rules for us.

His most important rule was this: “We start together and we stop together. There’s lots of room in between for experimentation, improvisation and even mistakes. So when you make a mistake during a performance, keep going. Most important, we must always start and stop together. Otherwise people will think we’re not entirely sure of what we’re doing. Which,” he added with a smile, “we're not always.”
Pretty good advice for leaders.  click here for more...

A troubling game is starting to play out in the workplace.

The game is being played for high stakes among bosses and their direct reports at all levels of organizations.

Chief executives are playing it with their boards and partners. Senior executives on the leadership team are playing the game with their CEO. And staff members are playing it with their supervisors.

Call the game “Misalignment.”  click here for more...

When things don’t go as planned, it’s tempting to point fingers.

After all, we chuckle at the cynic’s view of the six phases of a project because there’s some truth to it.  click here for more...

As the economic recovery continues to gain momentum, many leaders are finding themselves in a delicate balancing act.

A year ago, I alluded to this balancing act while watching leaders wrestle with the reality of an uncertain future (“Leading in The New Normal,” February 2010).

Among the 10 guidelines I encouraged leaders to embrace were the two apparently conflicting behaviors to increase your involvement in the business while encouraging leaders to delegate more responsibility to trusted colleagues.

Here’s the perspective I offered a year ago, which is still relevant:   click here for more...

Whether you made New Year’s resolutions, set objectives for 2011, or set your sights on an experience to celebrate within the next 12 months, I’d like to encourage you to add one more thing to your list.
Think about becoming more intentional in treating others with consideration.
In the strategic planning sessions I lead and the leadership development workshops for owners and key executives of small- and mid-sized businesses I conduct throughout the U.S. and Canada, I hear leaders describe their values using words like “respect,” “exceeding our customers’ expectations,” “do the right thing” and “treating others the way we want to be treated.”  click here for more...