Thoughts on people, teams, organizations, communities, effectiveness and success
I’m a guy, my son’s a guy, and I inherently like guys (and women too): so take this post not as a bash at males, but rather one of those 80% rules (e.g. applies 80% of the time, misses and is off the remainder 20% of the time) that hopefully informs what you do with the information.
Here’s the trouble: men are overconfident.… Read the rest
The gift fruit basket from Wendy and Richard Yanowitch was over the top, but it was really the simple handwritten card expressing what I had done and their thanks for my behavior that hit the bulls eye. Their thank you letter, as my friend Cathy Madison at Cathedral School for Boys might saw, “was a keeper.”
The next day at the school bus stop Lola’s mom, Charley Zechas, totally out of blue turned to me and said “I like having you at our bus stop.… Read the rest
With a nod to Kelly Clarkson, the first part of a fiscal year for many firms is “off-site” time. Leaders go with their teams to a place off-site with hopes that a change of scenery – and sometimes a round of golf or some collegial dinners – will change dynamics and improve performance.
It probably won’t.
But don’t blame the off-site for the lack of a durable performance bump.… Read the rest
As my 7 year-old son Traylor periodically reminds me, it’s tough to wait.
This morning’s challenge was one under-ripe mango: serving it for breakfast when he was ready but it wasn’t still meant it didn’t taste so hot.
It can be just as tough to wait in the employment constellation we call jobs and careers. Sometimes you’re ready, but the job is not – and sometimes you’re not ready, but the job is.… Read the rest
The Twitter stream has carried a great dialogue regarding the merits of hiring “generalists” versus “specialists” the last few days.
As someone whose “Quick Start” work with start-ups has enabled companies to get fast, effective out of the gate performance, I have a point of view, and the experience of 25+ years in business, about when to hire – and when to avoid – either type.… Read the rest
We live in a world of spin: from embellished resumes to downright lies, people seem to have forgotten truth with their honesty manners. It’s hard to know if it’s always been this way, or if it’s changed over time. Certainly George Washington, whose birthday was celebrated last week as a US Federal holiday, would be appalled. George, as the legend goes, was the young man who voluntarily told his father that he had chopped down a cherry tree rather than lie about it.… Read the rest