Thoughts on people, teams, organizations, communities, effectiveness and success
Last Friday the 13th (somehow fitting) was “sorry” day at Back West’s world headquarters; three occasions that someone said to me “I’m sorry.”
How effectively those apologies were tells you the things that make a sorry work, and how saying you’re sorry can also make the situation even worse.
Here’s the three:
Public business figures disclosing their sexual orientation is big news this week.
Should it be?
Rick Welts, CEO and President of the Phoenix Suns, a men’s professional team in the top tier of the elite National Basketball Association announced he is gay in an article – A Sports Exec Dares to Leave the Safety of His Shadow – in the New York Times Monday.… Read the rest
I’m guilty.
In the land of do as I say and do as I do, I’m buckling on the latter and hoping you do the former.
It happens.
Despite best intentions to behave true to my own advice I slipped into behaviors that others rely on me to avoid modeling. It happens. Welcome to being human.
I have a conflict with someone on a board on which we both sit and rather than address it early, it’s gone from a minor annoyance to major avoidance.… Read the rest
Distraction is the enemy of focus and accomplishment. The important task you set out to nail gets buried under the five to ten minor issues that snaked up during the day and grabbed your time and attention.
As Rodan of Alexandria noted, “It’s not the mountain ahead of you that wears you out; it’s the grain of sand in your shoe.… Read the rest
My colleague John Rehm – fresh from a tour of duty in Asia with IDEO leading innovation projects – flagged a post at HBR.com by Campbell Soup Company CEO and President Doug Conant titled Five Steps to Building Your Network.
If you’ve read Conant’s book with Nette Norgaard, Touchpoints: Creating Powerful Leadership Connections in the Smallest of Moments, you know that his candor and personal openness is unusual (unfortunately) for most senior executives.… Read the rest
It may have missed your radar, but two North American business icons waved the financial white flag in the last three weeks.
Harry & David filed for bankruptcy, and the storied Los Angeles Dodgers baseball franchise was taken over by Major League baseball. The organizations are deeply in debt, and the path forward is tricky for both.
What happened?
In the case of Harry & David, that Medford, Oregon-based purveyor of fine fruits and friendly customer service, a large portion of the blame is being cast toward H & D’s owner, private equity firm Wasserstein & Co.… Read the rest