From the days of Enron and Worldcom to more recent Wall Street collapses, Ponzi schemes, and political scandals, much has been written about the need for greater accountability in the workplace. Cultures of accountability foster trust, integrity, and sustainable performance. But the reality is that few companies do this well.

Here are six myths that sabotage accountability in the workplace and what you can do about them:

I believe that the local church is the hope of the world. But for it to reach its redemptive potential, it must be well-led. This means that those of us with leadership gifts have to step up and step it up. We have to take responsibility for our own leadership development.

Here are four steps I use to absorb new ideas and become a better leader:

For the past few years we’ve been studying breakthrough teams in some of the world’s most respected firms including Pepsi Beverages Company, American Express, Texas Roadhouse and Zappos.com.

Predictably, we found that great teamwork is about such things as effective goal-setting, instilling performance measurements, and increasing trust levels; but it’s also about something much softer. Something surprising.

This morning as I was running, I listened to Episode 99 of the Catalyst Podcast. It was an interview that Brad Lomenick did with Charlene Li, author of the new book, Open Leadership.

One thing in particular grabbed my attention. Brad asked her what has changed in the last two to three years in terms of social media. She said,

If you have a gnawing suspicion that work sucks, but aren’t quite sure what to do about it, this book is for you. In their recent book, Rework, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hanson challenge conventional business wisdom and show a better way to make work more fulfilling and less frustrating.

Continuing in my series of “20 Leadership Questions,” we come to the eighth question that Michael Smith asked when he interviewed me. This question is similar to the last one.

Continuing in my series of “20 Leadership Questions,” we come to the seventh question that Michael Smith asked when he interviewed me. This is basically a follow-up on the previous question.

Continuing in my series of “20 Leadership Questions,” we come to the fifth question that Michael Smith asked when he interviewed me. This is one is related to the previous question about creativity.

The Maximum Impact Club (MIC) is a monthly leadership mentoring program impacting thousands of leaders around the globe each year. The content is powerful, practical, and portable.

Each month members receive a special lesson from John C. Maxwell as well as 24/7 access to MIC 2.0, an online platform of exclusive downloadable leadership content.

This month David Hoyt of MIC interviewed me about leadership 2.0, social media, life balance, and, of course, the current state of publishing and where I see it going in the future.

Every stream has a current. Throw a twig or a piece of paper into the water, and it will drift with the flow. This is natural. It is simply the way things work.

Organizations are similar to streams. They too have a flow. That flow is the organization’s culture. When people enter into that culture, they usually move along with the current. It is what my friends at Gap International call “the drift.”

I hate cynicism. It is like cancer to the human soul. It is especially deadly when it infects an organization.

For some time, the Executive Leadership Team of Thomas Nelson has wanted to compile our corporate philosophy into a small book. This post marks the beginning of that process.