Focusing on one's own purpose is a matter of considering what you want to do, why you want to do it, and how you will do it. Easy questions, but they do provide deep thought.

The words a leader speaks are important, of course. But how they're delivered can make all the difference, especially in tough times.

People who believe in themselves and in a cause greater than themselves can achieve great things-as long as they have a well-intentioned leader to point them in the right direction.

Leadership is an active, living process. It is rooted in character, forged by experience, and communicated by example.

Solution = Conflict + Collaboration

Leadership is the behavior each of us exerts when we take responsibility for our actions and their consequences.

Purposeful organizations develop the next generation, not simply the next leader. My friend Marshall Goldsmith, bestselling author and leading executive coach, does not like the term succession planning. Better to say, "succession development." That means you are focusing on multiple managers and grooming them to lead.