Thoughts on people, teams, organizations, communities, effectiveness and success
We don’t usually get to pick how or when we die.
We can, with some work, grit and luck, pick the sort of life we live.
Scott Mader, who passed away this week at the age of 57, sure did; his story has lessons for all of us.
Earnest is the first word that comes to mind when I think of Scott; while he had lots of qualities (a dry sense of humor, funny smart, a real moral compass, etc.)… Read the rest
It was a nice compliment – as a finished a full day of facilitating and flipcharting – from a participant at an offsite I facilitated in Hong Kong.
“You have,” she said, “an amazing ability to distill what somebody said to a few words and capture it perfectly.”
“Thanks” I offered; “I’ve had lots of practice.… Read the rest
“No, no, no” I thought to myself as the senior executives at the leadership team retreat I facilitated outlined their “objectives” for the year.
A goal is simply something you plan to do; it becomes more meaningful when you have a time frame attached to it.
Goals are not, as I saw at the retreat, a rostering of things that people might do, might consider, or might explore with no time frame attached.… Read the rest
Is there a perfect first “real” job?
Probably not. But there are some real stinkers to avoid if you have the choice.
And I’m not talking about summer jobs, volunteer work, and or that paid – or unpaid internship – that might be out there. All of them, IMHO, are important.
But for serious importance it’s hard to match that first fulltime real job.… Read the rest
It’s the rare person who doesn’t want things to be better: better job, better career, better income, better everything.
And if only things were better then that person – maybe you, maybe me – would finally have the life that they deserve.
Life, it seems, seldom works that way.
The reality is that you are you, and it’s what you do with yourself that makes all the difference in the world.… Read the rest
Life’s choices and chances come to you in so many ways that if you’re not looking you most likely miss more than you catch.
More often than not you focus on what you’re losing or lost, not what you could have gained.
The passing of a year, and meetings with some former colleagues this week reminded me of one simple fact; we regret more what we think we’ve lost than what we’ve likely gained.… Read the rest