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 Good and Bad Sides of Single-Mindedness When you’re up to your armpits in alligators, it’s easy to forget you set out to drain the swamp

Mon, 01/20/2014 - 10:00

Ours was a great idea. As residents and business owners in the Caribbean, we had identified a niche market and determined to fill it. We formed a business partnership for a small manufacturing company. For a short time it went OK. Then we processed…

What You See Is What You Get Eight principles for defining a company’s vision statement

Thu, 01/16/2014 - 10:46

I should have kept a running tally, but I didn’t. During 40 years of training and consulting, I’ve worked with a great number of leaders and managers at all levels, from team leaders up to corporate heads. I usually began by asking what should be a…

Risk Management In the Hiring Process Hire for attitude, train for skill

Mon, 01/06/2014 - 10:40

Let’s say for the purpose of this article that you have a position open and a slate of applicants who possess approximately the same list of qualifications. What do you do? You start by looking at qualities. Certain qualities are important in…

Seven Motivators Every Effective Leader Knows Well We all want something, and it isn’t just money

Tue, 12/03/2013 - 09:22

Effective leadership is the process of persuasion and example by which an individual induces a person or group to take action that is in accord with the leader’s purposes. It’s the art of letting people have your own way. Keeping in mind the…

Motivation vs. Manipulation Manipulators control and bind, motivators empower and release

Tue, 11/19/2013 - 10:08

The department manager stepped up to the sales desk, dropped a file on it, and said to Phil the salesman, “Take care of this right now.” “We have already discussed this customer,” Phil objected. “She has refused to comply with local zoning laws.…

Motivating Baby Boomers, Part 2 The story of Sam

Mon, 11/11/2013 - 09:23

In my last column, I posted the first two motivational triggers boomers respond to. If you’re just now checking in, you can read that column here. I’m not going to continue with the next three triggers here. Instead, I want to share a story that…

Motivating Baby Boomers, Part 1 How boomers perceive heirarchy and authority

Tue, 11/05/2013 - 09:42

My father’s generation came through the Great Depression and World War II. Because those times were so uncertain, security was, and remained, a critical factor for this generation. It might even have been the most relevant, predominant one for them…

What’s in It for Me? Making ‘what’s in it’ be for you and me

Thu, 10/24/2013 - 16:55

I was working with a group of mixed-age volunteers to decide on the type of advertising they should use for their charity. Because broadcast media was one option, we needed to know the radio stations that typical users of their services would…

The Art of Motivation Your objectives aren’t a shrine to which others may be called to worship

Fri, 10/18/2013 - 11:42

Leadership is the ability to establish standards and manage a creative climate where people are self-motivated toward the mastery of long-term constructive goals, in a participatory environment of mutual respect, compatible with personal values.…

Four Lessons From a Meddling Boss How to differentiate between interfering and managing

Wed, 10/16/2013 - 11:21

The hour was late, quite late, in fact, somewhere around 8 p.m. The office had technically been closed since 5 p.m., but I was still there working with two volunteers. I was tasked with the job of preparing registration packets for the 1,300 or so…