Thoughts on people, teams, organizations, communities, effectiveness and success
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
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
I could blame my grumpy reaction to this last set of rainy days in San Francisco, but I won’t. Instead I’ll attribute to the type of “nice graphics first, let’s think about what it means later” approach that pops up every once and a while. And a case of bad career advice.
PriceWaterhouseCoopers is running something called Personal Brand Week. Their web page has a cute set of five name tags, conveniently corresponding to the five days of a traditional workweek and arranged in ascending order, foundations first.… 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
The question from my client was common: who do you spend limited resources for coaching and development of high potential employees? And, even harder, how do you know it’s money well spent?
The takeaway from working in and around corporations for almost 30 years is that most of the efforts spent on high potential employees – employees who their employer has deemed as having the skills, abilities, and interest to move to more senior positions with the corporation – is a waste.… Read the rest
Assumptions form the basis of almost everything we do; for example, we assume that the sun will rise (somewhere) from the east every day, roads can get icy for driving when it gets cold and wet, and no matter how you plan it, someone will call on the phone or ring the doorbell if you hop into the shower during the middle of the day.… Read the rest