Building a strong team is imperative for leaders and often a daunting undertaking. Doing it during a prolonged and life-altering event like COVID-19 might seem even more daunting. However, leaders can build strong teams in any environment when they focus on purpose, clarity, and psychological safety. Read more

Whether new or senior, leaders often exert considerable effort searching for the most effective leadership style. Even if realized, these efforts are often fleeting, and the style doesn’t work for every situation. However, research indicates that these searches don’t need to go much further than looking right inside ourselves — and that all of us possess inherent leadership qualities just waiting to be discovered and improved upon. Read more

JULY 21, 2020/ BY MARK J. CAPPONE As of July 2020, It has been about four months since many teams shifted to work-from-home scenarios because of COVID-19. Tumultuous as this has Read more

Teachers are likely familiar with Bloom’s Taxonomy and its structured approach to asking questions in order to help students learn by remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating and creating.[1] However, rarely Read more

Envisioning the future and imagining its exciting possibilities is a key leadership role. In The Leadership Challenge, James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner discuss several envisioning imperatives for leaders who Read more

By Mark J. Cappone During my military career, I was accustomed to relying on existing organizational procedures for use during day-to-day operations, as well as during times of crisis. Our libraries Read more

by Mark J. Cappone Of the myriad leadership styles discussed in leadership books and college classrooms, the coaching style isn’t one frequently in the spotlight. Leaders who attempt a coaching approach Read more

By Mark J. Cappone  Would you put your family on a [737] MAX simulator trained aircraft? I wouldn’t.” “I’ll be shocked if the FAA passes this turd.” “This is a joke. This airplane Read more

By Mark J. Cappone Key Takeaways: Effective leaders can receive superior results by applying different leadership styles based on the situation.The ability to exercise multiple styles of leadership requires significant emotional intelligence. Read more

By Mark J. Cappone  As many of us have, I found myself in a moment of holiday season reflection recently, thinking about all that I’m grateful for and why I’m optimistic Read more

At some point in our journeys, many of us enter the realm of organizational leadership. While leadership is ALWAYS about people, the transition from leading individuals to helping guide an Read more

By Mark J. Cappone  Key Takeaways Playing favorites is counterproductive and jeopardizes team effectiveness.Awards and punishments must be administered equally across organizations to avoid favoritism.Have you ever been on a team and Read more

By Mark J. Cappone A few years ago, Ben Stiller starred in and directed a film adaption of James Thurber’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty[1]. The plot centers around a Read more

A colleague recently lamented upon his observation of leaders who tended to make decisions based more on their ‘guts and intuition’ than on facts and critical thought. He immediately reminded Read more

By Mark J. Cappone  I’ve been asked several times recently if I believe that leaders are born or made. To some degree, I think this is somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophesy Read more

By Mark J. Cappone  Sometime during the first half of my military career, a wise sergeant major took me under his wing and mentored me. I previously worked in military intelligence Read more