C. Fredrick Crum

C. Fredrick Crum is the president and founder of Effective Leadership Now.Org. He has spent more than 30 years working with leaders and leadership teams to improve their performance.

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Articles by C. Fredrick Crum

• Why leaders need to shut up and listen

  Friday, March 28, 2014

  ​Typically, we choose our leaders for their skill at conveying messages clearly and powerfully. But, in my experience, it's their ability to listen that distinguishes great leaders from the rest. We often attribute courage and strength to the speaker, but what about the listener?

• How do you define success?

  Thursday, March 06, 2014

  ​When I ask leaders, "How do you define success?" I often get asked, "Are you referring to my professional life, personal life or for this organization?" I often respond asking by this rhetorical question, "How many lives do you have?" Then I let them ponder my question for a few moments.

• Are smartphones productive tools or distractive devices?

  Tuesday, February 11, 2014

  Many businesses provide leaders with smartphones or reimburse employees for their use of their private phones for business use so that productivity is increased. I have always wondered if this practice actually increased productivity or if having the world at your fingertips was a distraction. A group of researchers at Kent State University seems to have provided an answer.

• Best practices are not the holy grail

  Wednesday, January 15, 2014

  ​In my travels I have heard many leadership teams tout with great pride that they are using best practices. So when I say, "You are using common practices," they always get a strange and puzzled look on their face. How can you dominate or lead in your market by implementing the same practices and solutions everyone else has adopted as best practices? The answer: you don't.

• Contentment is the enemy of greatness

  Thursday, January 02, 2014

  I recently heard a quote from Rick Warren, author of "The Purpose Driven Life." The quote goes as follows: "If you don't learn contentment, you'll never be happy. You'll always want more." Needless to say Rick Warren's quote caused me to shout, "You are wrong, you are dead wrong!" I think my wife's ears are still blistered from my rebuke of his quote.