Articles by Robert Hargrove

Leading CEOs have taken a stand for a regime change to create organizations fit for the future and fit for human beings. The tyrant who must go? Our 100 year old management model still in place in every Fortune 500 company today, designed to turn people into robots. The 21st century leadership model will be based on coaching people to reach impossible dreams, build organizations that changes as fast as change, and workplaces where people give the gift of their passions, talents, and best ideas.  read more→

The chances are, if you grew up in one industry, you suffer from tunnel vision – seeing only one way of reaching goals, one way of solving problems, one way of earning opportunities. Moving from tunnel vision to funnel vision vastly expands your options. Traveling outside your business is one way to broaden your mindset and allow you to borrow ideas from other industries that can have the impact of an earthquake.    read more→

Open Letter to Kim Jong-eun: Your First 100 Day Action Plan

In taking over the leadership of North Korea, you will face in Shakespeare’s words, great expectations. Your first 100 days will be pivotally important in establishing the foundations of your long-term success or failure. It’s a time when people in your country and all over the world will be straining to take your measure as a leader, “Is he up to the job?” It’s a time when you have the opportunity to establish a vision of an Impossible Future for North Korea—from third world to first by 2020. Why not? It’s a time to address ‘A’ level priorities, like improving relations with South Korea. It’s a time to secure early wins that would build personal credibility and momentum—like extending an olive branch to the global community and bringing food aid to your country so people don’t starve over this long cold winter. read more→

First 100 Day Report Card: Frans van Houten, CEO Philips

What does the new CEO of Philips, Frans van Houten, have in common with Dutch explorers of the past, such as Henry Hudson who sought to find an easterly passage to Asia, or Willem Janszoon who recorded European landfall on the Australian continent? These hearty Dutch explorers each pursued an Impossible Dream in service of a cause, even though they didn’t have modern navigation equipment and there was no simple or obvious map to follow. Mr. Van Houten, who began his first 100 days about four months ago is intent on another Impossible Voyage of Discovery, even though he doesn’t have all the answers when starting out. read more→

We are committed to the proposition “Better Leaders, Better World.” Just think for a moment what the implications of this statement might be in your world. As Benjamin Disraeli, the great English PM, once said, “The planet goes on because of leaders who take a stand and make a difference.” In most businesses, governments, and other organizations, there are a critical few extraordinary leaders who take a stand and make a difference and a lot of very ordinary people who never stand for anything. What if you could increase the number of those critical few leaders, even if only by a small margin?  read more→