A chuckle was the first reaction when I saw Ann Handley’s (@marketingprofs) retweet of Ted Minnini’s post – For Sale: Business Culture – on the retailing of the Zappos culture. Zappos founder and CEO Tony Hseih – whose company was recently sold to Amazon – has been offering 2 days seminars for people to learn how to replicate the Zappos (success) story.… Read the rest
[True Stories] Facts – and Fiction – of the Effective Use of Virtual Teams
Virtual teams continue to be popular but the reality is that not all virtual teams are created equal – nor are many even “teams.” The news from recent research is hardly comforting; “1 in 3 executives believe virtual teams are badly managed.”
The post below, first published as a white paper by Dr. M. J. “Jo” Whitehouse and me in late 2007 is based on our direct experience with several start-ups in the challenging biotech drug development world, provides a clear roadmap to the steps to take – as well as the steps to avoid – in using the potential and leverage of virtual teams effectively.… Read the rest
[Coaching Tips] It’s the New Year: Now What?
Like sprinters accelerating after the blast of a starter’s gun, this week marks for some a rush to get things going toward a new job, a new employer, and/or a new career. The New York Times, for example, has a piece yesterday called Getting Back in Shape for the Job Chase. There is a reason the we feel this way: it’s a New Year and that implies a new start.… Read the rest
4 Simple To-Do’s to Give You a Great Start to 2010
This is my favorite time at the office. Phones are slow, emails are fewer and less urgent, people many times are away, and most everyone runs to a slower cadence than usual. Unless you’re in retail, the temptation is to also slow down (I”m all for that) and get little done (no way – heck I’m performance coach – I’m mostly about accomplishment).… Read the rest
[Life Back West] December 2009 – The Darkest Days
In earlier times, people in the northern hemisphere marked the winter solstice – the time of the year when daylight for the hemisphere is at its shortest – with rites and rituals. Even today those traditions live on with things like the California Revels and their event productions held in Oakland.
This time of year was regarded as marking the sun‘s ebbing presence in the sky, and the deepest moment of the cold winter’s dark.… Read the rest
[Scott Berkun] How “Trying” Improves Your Performance
Readers of this blog know that the body of emerging research by people like Carol Dweck from Stanford or Angela Duckworth at the University of Pennsylvannia show that trying, self discipline, and constant learning – rather than simply going to the right schools, having a high IQ, or having the right credentials – is what drives performance over the mid-to-long haul.… Read the rest