When I graduated from high school my first job was a sales position with Cutco knives.  I did not last long as a knife salesperson, but I did learn a valuable lesson.  My first report to the sales manager he asked about my activities from the previous week.  There was a box for “number of contacts made” and I went into a narrative about all the reasons why I had not made many contacts.  He stopped me and said (as best as I recall) “ Dave, you see that tiny box (pointing to th

It is perhaps paradoxical that as I am writing this blog about leadership I am at the same time reading a book about execution. That is the nature of life and of organizations, however, and so I will proceed simply by pointing out that while leadership is essential, it does not stand alone. In his preface to 2004 printing of “Built to Last” Jim Collins says “built to last is about building something worthy of lasting.” I remember Stephen Covey’s discussing the change in “succ