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David Porter Advisors

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Leadership development

Overcome limitations stifling our development

Overcome limitations stifling our development

“Is life not a hundred times too short for us to stifle ourselves?” Friedrich Nietzsche When a leader avoids responsibility for his actions, it often shows up as belittling, disingenuous, unsympathetic, incredible, unreliable, and egocentric. This list illustrates the polar opposite of role model leadership attributes. It also reminds us

Leadership whispering during transformation

Leadership whispering during transformation

While working on a company-wide transformation effort with an outstanding cross-functional team, there were frequent opportunities to engage with leaders and employees about what we were doing, why we were doing it, and how we planned to accomplish our vision. Before meeting with executive leaders to enroll their support as

Demonstrating straight talk leadership

One of my most valued and valuable principles is the belief that straight-talk leadership paves the way to excellence. This video explains in more detail: Straight Talk Leadership

A battle plan against exhaustion

A battle plan against exhaustion

Some owners and leaders are waking up exhausted today. They spend a few extra minutes in the shower, stare into the mirror with tired eyes, and drink an extra cup of coffee. Once outside, they stare at the wall with both hands on the wheel before starting the car. They

Five things that make HR work difficult

Five things that make HR work difficult

I’ve spent time as a senior HR leader and more time as an internal client. Unlike other company functions (i.e., accounting), there is significant variation in how HR work is designed (often haphazardly) and deployed across organizations. There is an ongoing question of how HR earns a seat

What are you getting up in the morning to be?

What are you getting up in the morning to be?

What are you getting up in the morning to be? Do you wake up to make a difference or focus on three more days until Saturday? Will you take an extra moment to thank someone for their contribution or assume that their manager already did? Will you say hello in

How we demonstrate courageous leadership

How we demonstrate courageous leadership

I recently wrote about some fears that leaders face. As part of my practice, I work with people to define mission-critical activities and develop courageous leadership habits. This post focuses on demonstrating courageous leadership. First, let’s get past the notion that courageous leadership is fearless. Fears are a useful