Instead of studying leadership, why not spend some time studying leaders and strategies in the wild? You can learn a lot from leadership experts, but you always see the leader and what he or she does through the expert’s personal lens. Supplement that learning with studying real leaders in real life situations and draw your own conclusions. The posts in this series will help you.

Every week I’ll point you to articles by and about real leaders in real situations and to articles about how real companies are faring in the marketplace. Read them. Think about them. Draw your own lessons and conclusions from them. Then try to apply those lessons in your own real life.

This week I’m pointing you to articles about Stacey Cunningham, Travis Ogden, We Companies, Disney, and Arne M. Sorenson.

From Wanda Thibodeaux: Why You Should Hire People Who Are Better Than You, Every Time

“Stacey Cunningham, New York Stock Exchange President, recommends the strategy to everyone.”

From Ali Parnian: Leadership Q&A with Travis Ogden, Isagenix CEO

“I had the opportunity to sit down with Travis Ogden, CEO of Isagenix International, at the company’s headquarters in Gilbert. Isagenix is a health and wellness company that sells dietary supplements and has been around for 17 years. It does business in 20 countries around the world with about 800 employees. I asked him his thoughts on organizational alignment and maintaining corporate culture.”

Thanks to Smartbrief on Leadership for pointing me to this story

From Todd Ordal: Business StrategyExamples: WeWork Doesn’t Work

“In an apparent example of breathing his own exhaust, the founder of WeWork — now rebranded We Companies (We) — recently invested in another company tied to his hobby, surfing. When your current business model loses a dollar for each dollar it earns in revenue, wouldn’t you want to fix that first?”

From Ben Thompson: Disney and the Future of TV

“The greatest drama of all in the television world, though, was on the surface far more banal: on Thursday Disney webcast its Investors Day 2019, where it not only gave details on its upcoming Disney+ streaming service specifically, but also clarified the future of TV generally. And, like any great drama, what is happening it not only a compelling story in its own right, but a lens with which to understand far more than the subject matter at hand.”

From Chief Executive: Marriott’s Arne M. Sorenson Named Chief Executive’s 2019 CEO of the Year

“Arne M. Sorenson, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Marriott International, has been named 2019 Chief Executive of the Year by his peer CEOs.”

For some ideas about how to get more from this series of posts, check out “Studying Leaders in the Wild.“