Thoughts on people, teams, organizations, communities, effectiveness and success
Tech valuations are popping (frothy is the well-used word) in the San Francisco Bay area. And the requirement to have high performing talent to quickly scale and produce a winning product may drive it all.
The scalp price for hiring or retaining top engineers was recently tabbed at $500,000 and the talent acquisition strategies of firms like Facebook includes the purchase of small start-ups only to shut them down and employ the newly acquired talent.… Read the rest
With ample help from the media, we are obsessed with the rockstar somethings – whether it be a CEO of a company, the new head at your kid’s school, or the coach of your favorite men’s National Basketball League team.
Good is not good enough; great is the order of the day. And in the hoax that is an assessment and selection myth like “topgrading and “A” players,” it means the person has to have gone to the right school, have the right degree, have the right look (preferably taller, thinner than heavier, and whiter or at least lighter) and run in the right circles.… Read the rest
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
There are best ways to say goodbye and best ways to avoid saying goodbye in the workplace. The same bit of logic applies to the best ways to say hello to new roles and let people know you’ve made a change.
Here’s a great (and real) example from my friend Willa Seldon:
“Dear Friends and Colleagues,
I recently joined the consulting practice of The Bridgespan Group as a partner. … 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