Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction In the last installment, I dusted off A Message to Garcia, Elbert Hubbard’s old essay about Lieutenant Andrew Rowan being handed a message for a Cuban revolutionary leader whose location was uncertain, then figuring out how to deliver it. Rowan is memorable because nobody could tell him exactly...
Tag Archives: organizational culture
The Leader’s Enduring Responsibility
Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction On the surface, leadership has a clear criterion for judging performance. Did we accomplish the mission? That question matters, and the answer is grounded in the present. Organizations exist for a reason, and it is not accidental that those reasons are usually declared in a mission statement....
When Certainty Doesn’t Come
Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction In When Expertise Isn’t the Answer, I argued that technical expertise is remarkably well suited to recognizing established solutions. Leadership, however, increasingly asks us to solve problems for which no established solution exists—not by abandoning expertise, but by extending disciplined expertise beyond the limits of pattern recognition. That...
“That’s OK” Is Not OK: The Growth Mindset Rant (Part 2: Mentors and Leaders)
Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction In Part 1, we explored how individuals sabotage themselves with fixed-mindset self-talk and how honest self-assessment paired with self-compassion opens the door to growth. Now let’s shift the lens: what happens when that same dynamic plays out in a mentor–protege or leader–team relationship? “Some people are not...