Jack Dunigan

Author, consultant, and trainer of leaders

For more than four decades, Jack Dunigan has been leading, consulting, training, and writing. His experience is varied and comprehensive. His training and consulting clients are as varied as the Chief Justice of the Navajo Supreme Court to a top-rated campsite management company. But his advice is not merely academic. His blog, www.ThePracticalLeader.com, is focused on practical advice for leaders and managers of businesses, corporations, nonprofit agencies, families, organizations, departments, anywhere and anytime a person leads others. His latest book is Three Absolutely Necessary, Always Present Skills of an Effective, Successful Leader (CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2012).

Wed, 01/16/2013 - 09:37

How One Company Destroyed Its Employee Incentive Plan… … With one act of generosity

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 16:13

It seemed like a good idea at the time and an incredibly generous act on the part of the company. When Gravity Payments founder and CEO Dan Price announced that he would raise everyone’s minimum wage to $50,000 a year with $10,000 a year increases…

Five Lessons in Motivation From My Tailor Custom-made inspiration

Thu, 09/03/2015 - 12:15

His name is Danny, and he owns “Danny’s Fashion Shoppe, bespoke tailors, Hong Kong.” His store is tiny, tucked into one of the many arcades that line Kowloon’s streets. The walls are stacked high with bolts of cloth, interrupted three or four times…

Six Essential Lessons About Motivation From a job offer that was turned down

Wed, 08/05/2015 - 14:24

Jason is a principal officer in a city office of a large consulting firm. The regional vice president recently met with him to offer a position as a district manager. For two hours or so the regional guy talked about the district, its strengths,…

What Good Is It? You can’t order a fully functional subordinate or associate from Amazon

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 12:22

What good is it? Often the mantra of the obsessively practical or the hopelessly cynical, a “what good is it?” response typically indicates disgust, disappointment, or disdain—maybe all three. Obsessively practical leaders seem to become, well,…

Four Things to Consider Before Dismissing That Suggestion or Idea It didn’t work then. Does that mean it won’t work now?

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:49

If it didn’t work then, will it work now? Elephant syndrome is what I call it, the tendency to never forget. But I’m not referring to a good memory; I’m talking about a faulty forgetter. Like the elephant in the photo, we remain tied with string…

Value Equals Worth Minus Cost What successful leaders know about their team members—and themselves

Thu, 04/30/2015 - 12:00

What is the real value of those who work for your company? For that matter, what is your real value? As employers and/or potential employers, it’s our responsibility to evaluate those who work for us. It isn’t by chance that the term “evaluate” is…

Leading From Behind What it is and what it is not

Tue, 04/14/2015 - 11:11

The concept of leading from behind appears in the news fairly often. The term has found expression via academia, in an idea put forth by Linda Hill of the Harvard Business School. She claims it originated from a reading of Nelson Mandela’s…

Respect: Four Things You Should Never Do And one thing you should

Tue, 04/07/2015 - 12:50

When I was last in Africa, I found a book in the library of the home I stayed in about the early days of safari hunting. The industry is tightly regulated these days and was, to a certain degree, even during the early part of the 20th century. The…

Lessons in Business From the California Gold Rush History repeats itself in commerce, too

Tue, 01/27/2015 - 09:46

On January 24, 1848, James W. Marshall found gold in Sutter’s Creek next to John Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California. By 1849, the gold rush was reaching full steam. Some 300,000 gold seekers (called 49ers because of the year in which they…

Six Tips to Get the Most From a Mentoring Relationship Make your mentor’s job easier and your time together more productive

Wed, 01/14/2015 - 00:00

Thinking about what life has brought to me thus far, I remember just how tentative and uncertain everything seemed when I first began my career. What would I do? Where would I do it? What was really required to succeed? Fortunately, I found mentors…