Sword Tips

Practical leadership insights from the trenches – drawn from experience, success, failure, and the real-world challenges leaders face every day.

I am a leadership coach and a professional author working directly with CEOs and senior leaders in the SF Bay area. I have also served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of San Francisco. Connect with me here or on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/larykirchenbauer. I am the author or more than 125+ newspaper columns published by the SF Bay affiliate of the NY Times among the 1,000+ arti

cles I have published on various website. I have also written 3 ebooks about Leadership & Business Finance. You can receive the latest articles by subscribing to my newsletter:

I have been married forever to a beautiful woman and have one spectacular daughter who has dedicated her life to helping children with life-threatening illnesses.

08/14/2026

What do bootleggers, seahorses, the number 666, Google, Fatty Arbuckle, Kramer and a white Labrador have in common?

Absolutely nothing. 😆

Except they all somehow found their way into this week's Friday edition of Sword Tips.

That's what Fridays are for — interesting things I've stumbled across that I thought you might enjoy too.

Take a look:

👉 swordtips.kit.com/posts/your-friday-newsletter-august-14-2026

08/12/2026

More people. More money. More time.

Most organizations would happily take all three.

But there's another way to increase your resources: LEVERAGE.

In Wednesday's SwordTips, I look at 7 ways leaders can leverage what they already have — including delegation, outsourcing, partnerships, technology and AI.

The question isn't always, "What else do we need?"

Sometimes it's, "How can we get more from what we already have?"

swordtips.kit.com/posts/7-ways-to-leverage-the-resources-you-already-have

08/10/2026

Yes, I once spent part of a night in jail.

And like we hear from all inmates—I was innocent. 😇

The story involves a summer music festival, riots downtown, a missing friend, a police captain's son, a belt buckle being raked across jail bars and repeated choruses of "Who Took the Cookie from the Cookie Jar?"

We couldn't stop laughing.

His father was considerably less amused.

It took me years to understand what ultimately got us out that night.

It wasn't influence.

And there's a leadership lesson in that distinction.

Here's the story:

swordtips.kit.com/posts/the-night-i-went-to-jail

08/07/2026

Your Friday SwordTips Newsletter is ready.

Before the weekend begins, I wanted to share a few things that caught my attention this week.

Inside this issue:

👁️ Eye color—can it really be changed?

🐉 The surprising story behind High Valyrian

🎓 An outstanding TED Talk

😂 A little Friday humor

💡 Several historical facts I didn't know until recently

If even one of these makes you say, "I didn't know that," then the newsletter did its job.

I hope you discover something worth sharing.

Have a wonderful weekend!

swordtips.kit.com/posts/your-friday-newsletter-for-august-7-2026

08/05/2026

We rarely appreciate flexibility until we lose it.

Think about your own body for a moment.

How much harder would everyday life become if you couldn't bend, stretch, or adapt?

Businesses face the same challenge.

Over the years I've learned that flexibility isn't a minor leadership quality.

It may be one of the most important competitive advantages an organization can have.

Today's SwordTips shares seven practical ways to build that flexibility into your company.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Read it here:

swordtips.kit.com/posts/7-steps-to-build-flexibility-into-your-company-s-dna

08/03/2026

Wouldn't it be nice if life came with unlimited do-overs?

Most of us have wished for one at some point.

But in business—and often in life—do-overs can be incredibly expensive.

Plants have to be remodeled.

Products redesigned.

People rehired.

Strategies rewritten.

One lesson I've learned over the years is that flexibility isn't just a valuable leadership tool.

It can spare an organization a painful death.

That's what this week's SwordTips is all about.

What's the most expensive "do-over" you've ever seen?

Read today's newsletter here:

swordtips.kit.com/posts/mulligans-are-free-in-golf-are-they-free-in-life

07/31/2026

One question has stayed with me for a long time:

What does it really mean to be an effective leader?

Peter Drucker gave one of the best answers I've ever read, but I think there's another important piece to the puzzle.

That thought opens this week's Friday SwordTips.

I also share a few interesting discoveries from around the web, a couple of quotations worth saving, and this week's Question of the Week.

I'd love your thoughts.

What quality do you think defines an effective leader?

Read this week's newsletter here:

swordtips.kit.com/posts/your-friday-newsletter

07/29/2026

Can two companies with completely different cultures both become extraordinarily successful?

My experience says they can.

Over the years, I worked with organizations that approached business very differently, yet both consistently produced exceptional results.

That eventually led me to stop asking which culture was "better."

Instead, I started asking what they had in common.

In today's SwordTips, I share four characteristics that consistently differentiate successful organizations — regardless of their culture.

Have you worked in organizations that were successful—but couldn't have been more different?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Read today's newsletter here:

swordtips.kit.com/posts/four-common-traits-of-successful-but-different-cultures

07/24/2026

For a variety of reasons, I've always collected a wide range of ideas.

Sometimes they're practical.

Sometimes they're funny.

Sometimes they're surprising.

Sometimes they're simply worth passing along.

Every Friday I've started sharing a few of the things that found their way into my notebook during the week.

This week's edition includes business, books, sports, humor and one fact that genuinely surprised me.

What's one interesting thing you came across this week?

If you'd like to see what made it into my notebook, here's this week's Friday Notebook.

https://swordtips.kit.com/posts/this-friday-s-newsletter

07/22/2026

Can two companies with completely opposite cultures both become highly successful?

I've had the unusual experience of living that question.

One company was driven by fear, intimidation and relentless pressure.

The other was built on trust, respect and genuine concern for people.

Surprisingly, both produced extraordinary business results.

This week's Sword Tips continues the story—and explains why the similarities ended there.

I'd love to hear your thoughts:

What was the best workplace culture you've ever experienced? What made it special?

swordtips.kit.com/posts/can-radically-different-cultures-produce-equally-great-results

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