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- JOE CURCILLO is a speaker and multidisciplinary expert, blending his diverse background as an entertainer, lawyer, engineer, and artist (to name a few). Joe magically harnesses diverse experiences to guide individuals and organizations. Navigate life’s lanes with Joe, and unlock the power of cross-disciplinary thinking.
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My Current Leadership Articles
Better Decisions in the Fog: Why Leadership Begins Where Certainty Ends
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Five Governance Practices That Make an Association Executive’s Job Easier
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Why Smart Organizations Still Make Bad Decisions: The Hidden Cost of Fragmented Intelligence
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AI Won’t Replace Leaders. But Leaders Who Ignore AI Will Be Replaced.
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Innovation Happens at the Intersections: Why the Best Solutions Come From Outside Your Expertise
Industry Specific Articles
Full Collection of Leadership Articles
The Expertise Is Already in the Room. The Connection Isn’t.
The Expertise Is Already in the Room. The Connection Isn’t. By Joe Curcillo Most organizations do not suffer from a shortage of expertise. They have plenty of it. Finance understands the numbers. Legal understands the exposure. Operations understands what it takes to get the work done. Engineering understands the system.
Step Out of Your Lane Before It Becomes a Blind Spot
Step Out of Your Lane Before It Becomes a Blind Spot By Joe Curcillo Some people walk into a room and see the people. Others see the numbers, the agenda, the legal issue, the operational problem, or whatever their experience has trained them to notice. Every once in a while,
Happens Between the Lanes
The Most Important Work Happens Between the Lanes By Joe Curcillo “Stay in your lane” is usually offered as good advice. Know what you know. Do your job. Respect the expertise of the people around you. Don’t wander into areas where you don’t belong. There is wisdom in that. I
You Don’t Just Have a Labor Shortage. You Have a Decision-Making Shortage.
The employees already there were not lazy. They had learned that making a decision created personal exposure, while passing the file to another desk did not. So the file moved. You Don’t Just Have a Labor Shortage. You Have a Decision-Making Shortage. I spent years in government watching agencies answer
The Plan Was Never the Point
Why the best-run associations are quietly loosening their grip on the five-year plan. Years ago, Charlie “Tremendous” Jones gave me a piece of advice I have never been able to shake. “The words are either in your heart,” he said, “or they’re not.” A few days later, I prepared to
Leadership Succession: A Title Transfers Overnight. Judgment Never Does.
Recently, a regional credit union trade association finished a national search that started back in March: a search firm, months of vetting, and finally a new chief executive who took the seat today, carrying more than thirty-five years in the credit union movement with him. Somewhere else, a construction
The Fachidiot Problem: When Expertise Creates Collective Blindness
The Germans gave it a name. Most organizations still haven’t solved it. The Germans have a word that English never quite managed to produce. Fachidiot. (FAHKH-ee-dee-OHT) Cambridge translates it as a “blinkered specialist”—someone who understands a particular field but cannot see beyond its boundaries. It is not a flattering term.
Why Leaders Must Connect the Dots Before Deciding
Most organizations do not suffer from a lack of information. They suffer from a failure to connect it. The finance team sees the numbers. Operations sees what is breaking. Legal sees the exposure. Sales hears what customers are saying. The board sees strategy. Employees see what happens when that strategy
A Leadership Transition Is a Stress Test, Not a Reset
Replacing a person is succession planning. Preserving the organization’s ability to decide is leadership continuity. A leadership transition creates a seductive story. One person is leaving. Another is arriving. The board needs a search process, an announcement, an onboarding plan, and a clean transfer of responsibility. Complete those tasks and