Thoughts on people, teams, organizations, communities, effectiveness and success
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
North Americans (OK, maybe just those of us who are Yankees) love simple solutions, especially to complex problems.
We want a pill to cure obesity (instead of a change in diet, lifestyle, better sleep, and appropriate physical activity) and student testing to cure educational ills (in lieu of better teacher training and development, better resourcing, smaller class size, and greater parental involvement).… Read the rest
We love easy solutions: take a pill and lose weight; go to the right schools and become a zillionaire; hire the right “A” player new talent while clearing out the “C” deadwood and make your business a great success.
But life (mostly) is not that way. As Ronald Reagan said, “It’s simple, but not simplistic.”
And here’s the hoax – the canard; the idea that if you just hire those “A Players” – people like the Legion of Super Heroes (pictured right) – the folks in the top 10% of their roles – and “release” the untrainable B and C players to their future career path you’ll have stocked the right talent to have your company become a success.… Read the rest
Wendy Mogel, author of New York Times bestseller The Blessing of a Skinned Knee: Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children was in the City this week. I caught her presentation at the Hamlin School along with a bevy of parents from various independent schools.
Mogel has great on-stage presence and funny charm, fitting for someone whose father published the National Lampoon.… Read the rest
Sometimes the greatest risk you can take is to take no risk at all.
Or as James Dean phrased it, “Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today.”
Three events this week brought that thought squarely home.
She had been a life preserver of wisdom when my career as a senior exec hit the intersection of homophobia and high corporate politics (“I think,” she had offered, “that someone in your situation should get good legal counsel quickly.”) and now over a decade later we had the chance to reconnect over hot chocolate and conversation.
This time – unfortunately – she was the one who was on her way out, and it was my chance to offer advice and guidance.… Read the rest