Thoughts on people, teams, organizations, communities, effectiveness and success
The time around Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite (great food, few surprises, and basketball season gets in gear) but it gets sobering fast when people die. These last seven days were sober in the extreme.
A former Atara Bio colleague (mid 30’s), a friend from San Francisco (age early 50-ish) and a college fraternity brother from Willamette U. (mid 60’s) all died in their sleep last week.… Read the rest
Good job hunting takes time. Now is that time to start.
While you’ll sometimes see churn at the end of the year – my old shop, for example, is hemorrhaging as people leave and folks complain on GlassDoor – but most people who are want to move to a new job tend stay in their roles through the end of the year and start job hunting in the first quarter of the new year.… Read the rest
Self-awareness, like a good GPS device, keeps you centered and on track.
Good self-awareness means you know who you are, and how you relate and impact the people around you. Even if you don’t care what people think, like driving a car fast, you’d like to know how the road maps.
And poor self-awareness?
Research (Center for Creative Leadership) shows it’s one of the key significant competencies that when underdeveloped – along with emotional self control, empathy, and influence skills – is a leading and predictable job derailer for leaders and execs.… Read the rest
The interviewer with a candidate at the Starbucks in Hong Kong Central seemed nice, bright and engaging.
She was, unfortunately, conducting a train wreck of an interview in front of me; when she asked early on, “You’re not a micromanager, are you?” I thought she was a goner.
When the candidate smiled, said “Of course not” and she smiled back, I knew she was dead on arrival,
She had just confirmed that the candidate had a pulse and an IQ (e.g.… Read the rest
The job that was supposed to work out well, doesn’t.
You parachute out of that job to take another that is not on the road map to a successful career .
Somewhere between Point A and Point C you got detoured to Point Z.
Can you get back on the right road?
Maybe; here’s an example of somebody who got detoured and how they got back on track.… Read the rest
You can lack efficiency and effectiveness in how you communicate.
Or you can have both. Here’s how.
As background, it always helps to be clear about what you’re trying to communicate. Simply pass on information, or engage in a discussion and check for understanding? Ask for feedback, or do a data dump and run?
Great communication starts with focus about what you’re trying to accomplish, and what you’re trying to avoid.… Read the rest