Posts by shadmin

Please enjoy my most recent article in Global Business and Organizational Excellence, March/April 2017.

Read More

Courage in the Face of Nonsense: Leading in the Workplace

Leaders must draw the line between using rules in an attempt to drive compliant behavior and engaging employees in spirit-based discussions on ways to ensure that the right actions are taken. Who would have thought that product labeling could provide such humor? We have all seen warning labels cautioning against using lawn mowers to trim hedges, hot coffee cups informing the customer that the coffee is indeed hot, plastic fruit labeled as inedible, or other examples of this silliness that has become the stuff of daily comics and snickering web postings. What hap- pens, however, when this...

Read More

Evoking Collective Spirit through Soulful Organizations

Having recently returned from Gdansk, Poland, following a study mission, my thoughts revolve around the power of places, rituals, and artifacts to evoke spirit. Spirit is a sought after commodity for individuals, teams, organization, and societies. Spirits of innovation, of competitiveness, of service, of cooperation, of performance, and of achievement are among the fires leaders desire to instill within self and their reports. But, beyond a stirring address, leaders often miss the opportunities to connect with the soulful places, rituals, and artifacts that evoke these spirits. Several...

Read More

Holistic Thinking in a Subsystem World: Collaborating to Create Inspired Visions

During a summer hiking adventure in southern France, I had the opportunity to visit the Point du Gard. This structure is an ancient Roman aqueduct crossing the Gardon River and part of a 31-mile system that once carried water from the city of Uzès to the Roman colony of Nîmes. Built in the first century it is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The aqueduct carried an estimated 44 million imperial gallons of water a day supplying baths, homes, and fountains to 50,000 citizens. Amazingly the height drop of the entire aqueduct’s length is only 56 feet, demanding a gradient of 1 in 3,000. What...

Read More

Is the Workplace a Zombie Breeding Ground?

Read Stephen’s latest article in The Journal for Quality & Participation.

Read More