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

The Qualities of a Superlative Leader: Intelligence, Part 1 Smart leaders rely on much more than book learning alone

Mon, 07/07/2014 - 14:17

He was the tenth son of a Boston soap maker. His father intended for him to enter the ministry but had only enough money for one year of schooling, and the profession required many. He therefore apprenticed the young man to another son, James, a…

Six Principles of Effectiveness Not to be confused with efficiency

Mon, 06/30/2014 - 14:02

If efficiency is the economic use of human, psychological, and material resources, what is effectiveness? Go ahead and think about it. I’ll wait… Like many of you, I find the online Business Dictionary to be a useful resource. Here’s how they…

Seven Ways to Enthuse Employees With Hope It's an invigorating force

Mon, 06/09/2014 - 08:53

R ecently I shared five reasons why hope is not an effective strategy, but hope is, nonetheless, an essential attitude. What do you think influences that attitude? Let’s take a look. There’s a difference between hope and hope so. The former is…

Five Reasons Why Hope Isn’t a Valid Strategy Strategic thinking is creative thinking at its most useful

Tue, 06/03/2014 - 16:37

I have always loved working with military people. Their training firmly builds within them a “can do” mentality and a fixation on mission objectives. One of the best employee associates I ever had was a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel. He…

What Lewis and Clark Showed Us About Effective Leadership Use these 11 incentives to get everyone to journey’s end

Tue, 05/13/2014 - 16:04

The biography Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West (Simon & Schuster, 1997) is one of the great stories in American history. When Merriwether Lewis and William Clark departed St. Louis in…

Seven Traits of a Great Planner But if you had to describe these traits with one word, it’s practicality

Wed, 05/07/2014 - 12:25

It’s time to become small minded. Visionaries are big thinkers. Planners may make big plans but they think small. They take the grand scheme and turn it into smaller steps. Planners are comprehensive thinkers whose skill sets include the ability…

Five Phases of Your Role as Leader Plan, organize, train, control, coordinate, and facilitate

Wed, 04/23/2014 - 18:07

The expectation that leadership can be a singular role is unrealistic. We wear a lot of hats. We manage, we motivate, we correct, we monitor, we inspire, we facilitate, we coordinate, we focus, we bark, we growl, we whisper, we articulate, we…

Viability: Lessons From Studebaker In your company, what capabilities define its potential to grow?

Wed, 04/02/2014 - 17:56

Studebaker, producer of some of the most iconic cars in America, started making wagons for farmers, miners, and the military in 1852. Incorporated in 1868 under the name Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Co., it entered the automobile business in…

Seven Steps to Develop a Strategic Plan Odds are you’ve already done one of them

Thu, 03/13/2014 - 17:30

I had been hired by the tourism department of a large Native American tribal government to help it develop a strategic plan. The department had a largish budget and had raised the visibility of tribal lands and attractions, but there was no rhyme…

Six Secrets to Keeping Your Team Working for the Same Goals Working the vision full-time

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 11:42

Does your right hand know what your left hand is doing and why it is doing it? When assisting businesses and CEOs in improvement efforts, one of my first questions is, “What is your vision for this company?” After hearing their definition, I will…