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When Busyness is Hurting Business
Business is in trouble. Too many people are moving too fast in too many directions with too little guidance and no time to think. Information comes at all of us with great velocity but sometimes-weak veracity. In the race to be first, fastest and best, we lose sight of the purpose. What do I mean? […]
Continue ReadingFinding the Point in Your Life Where You Accept Change
What’s your limit? When do you know you’ve ‘had enough’ of whatever is bothering you? Whether it’s pressure at work, escalating taxes, or dysfunction in a personal relationship, what is it that finally makes you change your life? An odd question? Perhaps. But one worth considering if you’re serious about finding success and happiness. Some […]
Continue ReadingLeadership Lessons from Netscape’s Past
I’ll admit to being a Netscape user (aka techno dolt?). I’ll also admit to being really unhappy with their Digg-style upgraded homepage. Why would I want the news created and voted upon by “regular” people? Since when does the average (self-absorbed, hyper-active, multi-tasking, relatively-uninformed) person have the wherewithal to determine what’s newsworthy? This is not […]
Continue Reading7 Things Leaders Do Unnecessarily
I’ve been working across a broad range of issues with a variety of clients lately and there are several things about organizations and leaders today that strike me as unnecessarily stress producing. 1. We don’t do a good job of helping people understand what’s expected of them. 2. Conversely, we don’t do a good job […]
Continue ReadingDeveloping a New Skill is Not Easy
This is for all the people who believed an ad, a speaker, or a well-intentioned coach who told them that developing a new skill would be fast, easy, and fun. It’s not. I talked to a young woman yesterday who is sick of hearing about how great things could be if only she learned to […]
Continue ReadingLeaders Must Learn That Generosity Goes a Long Way
It’s wintertime in Wisconsin and we’ve already had enough snow to last the entire season. Just like last year, the snow came early and now, often. Drifts at the end of the driveway are as tall as me, which makes throwing snow off a shovel nearly impossible. Every morning I wake up wondering if I’ll […]
Continue ReadingThe Art of Subtlety in Today’s Culture
Watching the Super Bowl ads last night left me feeling disappointed. Like most people, I look forward to being surprised and entertained by the greatest creative minds in the advertising business. Oh, wait. There’s one false expectation. The ads reflect the deepest pockets, not necessarily the most creative minds. Beyond that, I got to wondering […]
Continue ReadingBetty Friedan: Another Author Icon Gone
Betty Friedan died today at age 85. In a weird sort of way, I miss her already. I read “The Feminine Mystique” sometime in the 70s, when I was old enough to want to understand my mother in a societal context (because I certainly didn’t in a self-absorbed teenage angst) and because I was intrigued […]
Continue ReadingHelp me understand “Whatever.” Imprecision threatens success.
I had an “oh, boy” moment this morning. That’s kind of like an “ah, ha” but not in a good way. It’s more like an “uh, oh” moment. It happened when I started thinking about how imprecise our language has become and how a lack of clear, meaningful communication can lead us nowhere good. I […]
Continue ReadingPoor Feedback for Leaders is an Ignored Organizational Ailment
Here’s a critical and often ignored organizational ailment I heard this morning: “How am I supposed to be confident when my boss keeps telling me how terrible things are? ‘The economy is fragile, jobs keep moving overseas, if we don’t perform better, we might be out of work.’ I know all that stuff, but I […]
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