Vuja De: Seeing the Old as New
I recently watched Adam Grant’s TED Talk on “The surprising habits of original thinkers.” (https://www.ted.com/talks/adam_grant_the_surprising_habits_of_original_thinkers). After rewatching it a few times, Adam has challenged my perspective on innovation and productivity in FedGovCon, offering what I believe are some valuable lessons for how we approach work. Failure to Launch Seven years before the talk, Adam Grant […]
The CEO Toolbox: AI is Redefining Roles… Just like ATMs!
In his insightful 2016 TED talk, economist David Autor posed a thought-provoking question: “Will automation take away all our jobs?” His answer, backed by historical evidence and economic principles, was a resounding no. Autor argued that while automation may displace certain job roles and functions, it ultimately elevates humans to work on more complex, value-added, […]
Embracing Chaos to Drive Innovation
As leaders in Federal Government Contracting, we often face complex challenges in Enterprise IT and Cybersecurity. But what if the key to breakthrough solutions lies in embracing the very chaos we try to avoid? Tim Harford’s TED talk “How Frustration Can Make Us More Creative” tells the story of Keith Jarrett’s legendary Köln Concert. Forced […]
Core Values: Your Roadmap to Success
I read a lot of leadership and management content. It’s my way to keep the tools in my toolbox sharp. I recently came across Richard St. John’s TED Talk, “8 Secrets of Success,” where he distills 500 interviews with successful individuals into eight key principles. These insights align perfectly with our mission, map to our […]
Culture Beats the Carrot
The key to high performance isn’t just about financial incentives – it’s about creating a corporate culture that fosters intrinsic motivation. We’ve taken the principles outlined in Daniel Pink’s TED talk, “The Puzzle of Motivation,” and put them into practice, with remarkable results. In his TED talk “The Puzzle of Motivation,” Daniel Pink challenges the […]
Cultivating a Stage 5 Tribe
I recently watched a TED talk by David Logan on Tribal Leadership, and it helped reinforce the power of culture and core values in driving success in the competitive FedGovCon industry. According to Logan, organizations are made up of tribes – natural groups of 20-150 people within which work gets done and societies get built. […]
The CEO Toolbox: Superchickens are Bad for Business
Early in my career, I bought into the prevalent “superchicken” model of leadership, believing that a few star performers were the key to driving success. But as I’ve grown as a leader, I’ve come to realize that it’s actually the social connectedness and collaboration of the entire team that truly powers innovation and productivity. This […]
The CEO Toolbox: What’s your “Why”?
As CEOs, our primary role is to lead and inspire our organizations to achieve their mission. But how do we effectively do this? In my experience, it all starts with clearly defining and articulating our “Why” – our Purpose. This concept is brilliantly explored in Simon Sinek’s TED Talk “How Great Leaders Inspire Action”. Sinek […]
The High Performing CEO: Reframing Rejection
As the CEO of ICS, I’ve faced rejection countless times over the years – from customers, employees, partners and even friends. It’s an unavoidable part of the entrepreneurial journey. But recently I watched a powerful TED talk by Jia Jiang called “What I learned from 100 days of rejection” that got me thinking about this […]
The High Performing CEO: Harnessing Creativity
As a CEO, I’m no stranger to the pressures of needing to be constantly creative and innovative. When you’ve had successes in the past, there’s an anxiety that comes with wondering if you’ll be able to keep that up, to match or exceed what you’ve done before. Society (and mostly we, ourselves) put an enormous […]
