Thoughts on people, teams, organizations, communities, effectiveness and success
I love US collegiate basketball’s March Madness. There are great games to be watched, and terrific lessons for everyone.
And I’ve got lots of company; as Vittorio Tafur noted in the San Francisco Chronicle, the next three weeks are “the most glorious, democratic, and addictive event in sports.”
And those tournament lessons are for you, and the lessons are for me.… Read the rest
Two data points but heck, that’s how suspicion about global warning started; unless you’re Oklahoma Senator Jim Imhofe, we all know what that data ended up demonstrating.
What might these two data points be, and what do they mean for you?
Last week Martin Burns (@RecruiterMoe) one of my Twitter friends was tweeting the joys and skills of a software engineer.… Read the rest
Over hot chocolate (Peet’s non-fat, no whipped cream) this week, the search headhunter – newer to that side of the desk after running executive recruiting for one the nation’s blue chip companies on the other side of the proverbial desk – asked the awkward question.
His candidate search work for engagements had been outstanding; his new business development success had been missing in action.… Read the rest
As in politics, hot words can get exchanged in business.
The colleague who never says peep now has new ways to describe you when they’re asked to share their thoughts on what it’s like to work as your colleague.
When the jolt of the words has washed over you, just what do you do when someone calls you – to phrase it politely – an SOB?… Read the rest
Everyone admires firefighters.
Whether saving a cat from a high tree, or risking (and sometimes losing) lives battling a forest fire, firefighters universally evoke respect.
The same is true inside the business and organizational world; everybody applauds and cheers for the person or team who comes in to save the day, prevent the business for slipping into disaster or at least preserve what’s left of it, or prevent that favorite customer from leaving.… Read the rest
Everyone loves a good story.
And it turns out that being thoughtful about how you tell your story – whether you’re a startup, job candidate, or an established company – can make all the difference between success and something closer to failure.
Peter Gruber should know. Gruber is the highly successful former chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment who along the way ran Columbia Pictures at age 30, produced Batman, and taught for decades at UCLA.… Read the rest