Today’s Obviousity
My obviousity for today: In all of my work with senior executives in major companies, I've never once seen any of them pull out a list or view a graph when considering how to empower people, or increase performance, or deal
Skills and Attitudes
Training legend Bob Mager wrote about skill deficits vs. attitude deficits. He posited that if you held a gun to someone's head, and they still couldn't so a job, then there was a skills problem. But if they could do
Blog Leadership (BL)
There are constant questions and comments on social media about "thought leadership": how to become a thought leader, how to sustain the position, what to do if you "burn out," and similar nonsense. I say "nonsense" because "thought leader" (or "guru"
Strategic OCD
OCD stands for “obsessive-compulsive disorder” wherein a person experiences uncontrollable and recurring thoughts (obsessions) and therefore engages in repetitive behaviors (compulsions). These provoke time-consuming symptoms that cause significant stress and far from optimal coping with life. This is an anxiety disorder
Bird Brains
I used to think that the squirrels were responsible for emptying out my bird feeders so rapidly. So I invested in "squirrel-resistant" feeders that actually work as claimed: Only one acrobatic squirrel ever managed to dine there, and he eventually
The Question We Don’t Ask Often Enough
When you're facing a client quandary, don't ask how to save your project or make more money. Ask yourself what's best for the client. That's why we should be in this business.
Fearless Leadership
Why is it I think that every time I hear someone chirping about "servant leadership" or the need to be "humble leaders" I think that these are people who just can't make it in a competitive world and thus want
My Kingdom for A Horse
My experience is that people are usually comfortable with the present. They "feather their nests" and build resources and security. They are also comfortable with a vision of a better future. They can relate to the improvements and would gladly be
Choices
The more choices people have, the more they tend to freeze because it's difficult to choose, and there's worry that the choice might not be optimal. (Critical thinking skills aren't exactly in abundance these days.) But options DO tend to
Boot Camp
Some people I coach tell me they'd rather face a prospect in a strange office in an initial meeting than deal with me on Zoom in a role play. I tell them that's the idea, congratulations, my work here is done