My grandfather used to say to me when I was a boy, "Getting knocked down is no big prize - it's getting up that's the real trick." I couldn't agree more.

Kevin Allen

Categorized in : Boys Grandfather Real

As a sensitive and highly intuitive person in the command-and-control corporate world, I always felt miscast.

command-and-control sensitive world

At the end of the day it's really easy to be a great leader when things are going well. The real test, whether or not you believe in being an emotionally intelligent leader, is when things go wrong.

intelligent real believe

As I was coming up in business, screwing up was not an option in... by Kevin Allen

As I was coming up in business, screwing up was not an option in any form.

Once you demonstrate to your team that you put them on the same plane of priority as yourself, you will create an environment, and a culture that will make your entire organization flourish.

priorities team organization

It is so easy to "calibrate" -that is, given the pressures on a smaller company to redefine in less ambitious terms- that which you are in business to accomplish. The moment this happens the downward spiral begins.

ambitious moments pressure

Survival in the demand economy depends on and requires experimentation, risk taking, and trial and error.

risk errors survival

The phrases and language used everyday in an organization can in fact affect the way your team makes decisions and conducts themselves.

team organization decision

Buoyant leadership is not a management technique, it's a leadership principle based on the belief that leading isn't presiding, it's taking people on a journey, and on any hero's journey there will be a setback.

journey hero people

Change management is kind of a weird concept to me. We can' t control events any more than we can control the weather. But we control how we deal with it and we can control the opportunities that these moments of change create.

events opportunity weather

Inevitably in my career of 35 years, I was in one turnaround circumstance after another, and I was personally put in positions of significant responsibility but without complete authority over everyone that needed to be mobilized.

careers responsibility years

One of my great mistakes coming up, since I was a kid from wrong side of the tracks, and fearful that I might be seen as wanting leadership-wise, was to be someone I was not.

wise mistake kids

You can't mobilize people and connect with them authentically whe... by Kevin Allen

You can't mobilize people and connect with them authentically when they can't see the true you.

true-you people

As buoyancy is not contrary to other characteristics of leadership, including decisiveness, accountability and performance standards, I don't ever think it can be self-defeating.

accountability self thinking

First, define your credo- the belief system of the organization. Secondly, define your real ambition, or where do you want to go as a collective community.

organization real ambition

I believe that the establishment of a real ambition, a powerfully galvanizing and exciting vision of what a group is setting out to create, is vitally important.

real ambition believe

Mandela stands alone in possessing all of the qualities of other great men, but has one quality which is transcendent... his ability to forgive and to place others above himself.

forgiving quality men

Mr. Churchill connected truly to what was in the hearts of the British people, which is what a buoyant leader does. One of his most famous quotes is about making mistakes and learning from them. He wasn't shy to admit when things went wrong.

mistake heart people

True buoyant leaders can never communicate in percentage points, or charts and figures. First and foremost, they must be storytellers, communicating with their hearts, not heads.

leader heart firsts

What can be seeds of destruction can also be seeds of greatness. by Kevin Allen

What can be seeds of destruction can also be seeds of greatness.

seeds destruction greatness

The secret is to be prepared, to draw on the strengths of the people around you, and most importantly, to instill confidence that your team will step up and find a solution.

team secret people