John Schuster – Page 11

“How have I contributed?” vs blame and denial

January 24, 2011 John Schuster Self development

When the gunman in Arizona took lives and attacked Gabby Giffords, it was inevitable that the political arguments would ensue. Imagine if a union member had shot an elected Tea Party official; the right would likely have blamed the left. We all know what the argument is now, with use of cross hairs and the atmosphere of contempt being questioned, and individual blamelessness being declared. No matter the issue these days, when a wrong happens,[…]

Have you hugged a paradox recently?

September 29, 2010 John Schuster Self development

We need more wondering and less pontificating. One problem with the media today: almost zero dialogue and listening. PBS’s Charlie Rose looks like he wants to learn something and Larry King (bye Larry) seemed genuinely curious. So many of the rest are about talking points, or making fun of worthy opponents’ worst ideas. What is the level of your thinking recently? Have you gotten confused by the social experiment called democracy−how can we have individual[…]

Your Past Holds Some Secrets to Your Purpose

July 22, 2010 John Schuster Self development

The question of life purpose was in the air for the last several years. Now, in a recession, when people are questioning the hard push on careers that have stalled, or where already shaky loyalty to the company has been further damaged with drastic cost-cutting moves, purpose and meaning is still much in the air. “Purposes reveal themselves in many ways, often showing up as an insult to our ego and the very thing that[…]

Let’s Embrace a Post-greed Era

July 22, 2010 John Schuster Sustainability

I will never forget this conversation. I was on a tennis court in northern Indiana with a friend of the family, back about 1990, when the arguments for the flawlessness of free markets over the stupidity of government were being won across the globe. Communism was collapsing and we all thought the markets were the best bet going. This friend, racket in hand, looked at me and gave me his basic formulation of the choice[…]

Executive Evocateurs: Masters at Developing Talent

July 16, 2010 John Schuster Articles, Leadership

Leaders do good business when they understand that they are getting results and growing and nurturing people. They know that as they go higher in the organization they gain increased authority, but the power to execute their plans is increasingly in the hands of the doers– middle managers down to the front-line performers. In other words, as authority increases, the power to execute decreases. This can be a problem, but the best executives know how[…]