Stuck between gears
A couple of weeks ago, I pulled my bike off the garage wall, checked the tires, and started for a leisurely ride without a chartered destination. My goal was to spin and explore. My neighborhood [...]
DDJ Myers News Archives
Interviewing in a box: Weird and necessary
Interviewing for a CEO job is not something you do every day. Even before the pandemic, interviewing for a CEO role created anxious moments for both candidates and board members. Now, layered on top of [...]
The world as our school
The best of learning involves no school at all; “the world is school enough,” says George Leonard, a Zen philosopher and expert in Aikido. Our world today is opportunistic in its learning. Yet, there are [...]
Board renewal and recruitment: A profound need to modernize the process
The COVID-19 environmental disruption, the call to enhance and expand member digital services, #blacklivesmatter, and the retirement of board members comprise a profound confluence of opportunities. These opportunities should not become issues with the right [...]
Healthy self-regard and humility
Fifteen emotional competencies form the foundation of human behavior, and improving this foundation increases the ease and effectiveness of our many relationships in the workplace and, ultimately, our leadership effectiveness. Dr. Deedee Myers helps us [...]
Preventing day-to-day disasters In the boardroom and executive suite
Disasters are more preventable when the right questions are asked by the right people at the right time. Most of us have heard stories about boards dismissed due to mismanagement and CEOs being asked to [...]
Bullying or be humble and kind
Last Tuesday I was driving to the airport to have lunch with two of my sons when this Tim McGraw song called Humble and Kind came on the radio. Normally I play music in the [...]
Are you a pretender?
Are you one of the board members pretending to look engaged and interested? How curious are you in the board packet and in understanding how your organization is confidently and consistently serving your community? What [...]
Levels of consciousness in the boardroom: From complacent to framing
My work with boards is stimulating and invigorating because of the variety of thinking patterns, perspectives, and energetic engagement. Each person is there to contribute in a way he or she believes is important to [...]
Uncertainty when the CEO Is leaving
The decision to retire is a monumental, life-changing point for many CEOs. Some sit on the fence for a few years or have a set target date, while others stay in the role and may [...]
Emotional Intelligence: The gap between mediocrity and high performance
Star performers are distinguished by their emotional competence; they are found to be comfortable in their own skin and with other people and to have rich emotional lives. Overall, the star performers’ happiness index is [...]
Organized anarchy vs. dialogue with dignity
A shared sense of meaning is the foundation for a high-performing board and the board/CEO relationship. When the board and executive team, via the CEO, do not share an embodied mutual commitment to success, [...]
Onboarding: Where obvious meets oblivious
The most important outcome of an onboarding conversation is the alignment of expectations beyond the job description. Recruiting, hiring, and promoting are extensive processes for a midlevel or senior executive or for a newly recruited [...]
The value, or cost, of an entrenched board
Long-serving board members have a perspective from their service through many years, and perhaps decades, to an organization to which they volunteered with passion and commitment. I listen in awe to stories told by long-tenured [...]
Are you willing to step aside?
Does the threat of not being reelected discourage incumbents from shirking their duties to be a high-performing board member or engaging in empire building with other board members and the membership at large? My hope [...]