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Wisdom from select 2025 commencement speeches.

The answer’s in the room: As we grow in our careers, we don’t have to have all the answers ourselves. Instead, we can harness the power of inquiry and trust the people around us.

Transitioning from technical work to leadership involves coaching managers and aligning on context, philosophy, and goals.

Michael Bungay Stanier’s book, The Coaching Habit, offers a simple yet powerful framework to transform how leaders coach by asking better questions.

As I approach 25 years at Indiana University, I reflect on my values and how I made them uniquely me.

I don’t know about you, but I still reflect on what I learned during my MOR workshops. A theme that was a cornerstone of our MOR experience: Presence.

Servant Leadership is about building genuine, meaningful connections. It’s about our role as leaders to inspire, nurture, and empower.

One of the simplest practices recommended in the MOR Leaders Program is the adoption of giving three gratitudes as a daily routine.

Today’s Tuesday Reading is from Kirsten Mortimer, Strategic IT Services Manager at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and a MOR program alum.  Kirsten may be reached at [email protected] or via LinkedIn. One of my ongoing challenges is effectively delegating. Despite efforts to improve, still grappling with this fundamental aspect of leadership is frustrating. I have been […]

Resilience is an essential quality for leadership. What better way to nurture personal well-being than through a summer vacation!

As I ponder the essence of leadership, one word resonates deeply: values. The internal compass, the True North, that guides our actions.

Psychological safety is where people can brainstorm, voice half-finished thoughts, openly challenge, share feedback, and work through disagreements.

If you’re like me, you dwell on feedback or deviations from your meticulous plans. A single negative comment can overshadow a plethora of positive.

Let me tell you a story. As a young person and well into my teens, I was severely introverted. I was afraid of my own shadow…until that day.

I have been a MOR graduate for ten years! My cohort created a menu. I started reflecting on what I still serve off that menu ten years later.

I used to dread Mondays – a chaotic chorus of demands from every direction. After our first workshop, I decided to start a weekly planning practice.

I tend to say “yes” to everything. There are many reasons. For a long time, this served me well enough, but it all became too much.

It’s graduation time. I’ve “mined” graduation speeches for “golden nuggets” as we each take stock of where we are on our own journey.

[Today’s Tuesday Reading is from Brian McDonald, President of MOR Associates.  Brian may be reached at [email protected] or via LinkedIn.]   We hope you had a wonderful holiday, a chance to disconnect as well as time to rest and renew.   With the onset of 2023 we would propose you take some time and project […]

In a recent survey 125 alumni from across MOR’s leadership development programs were asked to identify areas of their ongoing development that they had a good handle on and also areas they need to focus on improving.  Alumni were first asked how invested are they currently in their ongoing development: 78% were very invested 21% […]