Al Watts Blog

What first crosses your mind when you hear “accountability?” I usually get two reactions: that there isn’t enough of it, or a wary reaction. Unfortunately, both reactions often reflect reality. We encounter organizations with products, services or results that fall short, with no one

Many of you know that sailing is a passion of mine, and my belief that it is a powerful metaphor and venue for teamwork and leadership development. Two years ago I sold our sloop Loon, which for years provided many adventures and leaning opportunities sailing the Great Lakes. In searc

The onset of spring, an upcoming neighborhood garage sale, a spell of bad weather and the inevitable accumulations from 25 years in our family home brought it on; it was time to clear the clutter. While our living quarters were easily navigable and presentable, recesses had become the

I asked myself that question after attending a recent book launch event by John Taft, CEO of RBC U.S. Wealth Management. John’s new and second book, “A Force For Good,” on one hand strikes an encouraging note about the potentially positive role that the financial industry can and shou

Once again, our yearly or thereabouts sojourn to Florida provided the inspiration for this article. Last year’s message was about First Impressions, and this year’s is a related theme: attitude. We’ve grown attached over the years to a favorite “Jimmy Buffet”-type bar and marina in En

There’s been a lot of talk about “authenticity;” we want authentic products, authentic experiences, and authentic leaders.  We seek originality; we desire products and services, as well as leaders and organizations that are what they claim to be.  Most of the attention has been focuse

Where do your ideas, solutions and inspirations come from? If you’re like me, sometimes they originate unexpectedly, from sources that have no direct connection to any challenge or topic at hand. If you’ve read my articles before you know that I find sailing and wilderness camping esp

Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, made news recently by publicly acknowledging his sexual preference; hats off to Mr. Cook and others like him who exercise that kind of courage.  I’ve been thinking that there are other ways of “coming out” as well, and am hopeful that Mr. Cook’s actions serve to

With only a few notable exceptions, I’ve been fortunate to sail with very compatible crews. All were interested in the same destination (or no destination in particular,) shared duties (pleasant and unpleasant,) enjoyed each other’s company and gamely faced whatever interesting challe

We are conditioned to wanting a Standard and Poor’s “AAA” or Moody’s “Aaa” rating, those agencies’ highest level of confidence that organizations can repay their debt. Those traditional ratings are lagging indicators, however, after-the-fact reflections of what organizations have or h

(July’s guest blog post is by Stephanie Klein, PhD. I met Stephanie at a gathering of Minnesota Professionals for Psychology Applied to Work (MPPAW,) and I was happy to learn about her interest in the connection of environmental stewardship to organization effectiveness. –

Recently a friend working in a rapidly-growing Twin Cities based company lamented how much had changed in his organization the last few years: “It just isn’t the same place. . . People don’t feel as loyal or energized. . . We’re not feeling the same sense of purpose. . .” When I asked