In previous articles we have shared some thoughts about the behaviors that are characterizing successful leadership during these times of turbulence and downturn we have been enduring for the last few years. Based on the accounts that keep coming forth, we can brush up those views and highlight today’s key THTs, i.e., “Traits for Hard Times“, and reflect on what they mean to us.

Leadership is not exercised in solitude nor in a vacuum but in a specific situation, in a particular environment and social context, with others and on others, who in turn interact with those who exercise leadership. Accordingly, the leadership experiences are varied and diverse. Leadership in fact can be exercised anyplace. And leadership lessons can come from anywhere.

To make a success of your business endeavor is obviously a tough proposition. You need “juggling” skills - but you’ll be tossing and stirring much more than balls or beanbags. Aside from having sufficient money to fund your undertaking, you have to put lots of deliberation and energy into it all to keep all the components running.

Organizational culture has been described as: "The set of beliefs, values, and norms - together with symbols, dramatized events, metaphors and personalities - that represents the unique character of an organization, and provides the context for action in it and by it." It constitutes in effect a pattern of shared core assumptions that the organization learns and codifies as it solves its problems of adapting effectively to the external environment and integrating individuals into an effectual whole. And it provides the stage where members of the organization perform. Thus, its economic implications are huge...

In his recent book, Leadership in the Era of Economic Uncertainty, bestselling author and leadership guru Ram Charan identifies key rules to follow to get the right things done in difficult times. While Charan’s is known for his outright bold advice, in this book he offers a more balanced proposal for an appropriate course of action in these times of crisis, including advice on how to carry those plans out in a positive way