Thoughts on people, teams, organizations, communities, effectiveness and success
Thomas Edison noted “The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are first, hard work, second, stick-to-itiveness, and third, common sense.”
Carol Dweck, Anders Ericsson, and Angela Duckworth have the first two qualities well-covered, I’ll take a crack at the third.
“Common sense,” it’s been said (C. E. Stowe) “is the knack of seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done.”… Read the rest
It never ceases to be an interesting world in which we work.
Job titles have morphed (inflated would be another word) as companies have paid in title to augment what formerly would have been paid in compensation, or have countered the title inflation of their competition – like Dr. Seuss’ Butter Battle War – with inflated titles of their own.
Albert Einstein noted “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
So what’s up with the craving for the sweet smell of success people that people are determined to avoid the taint of failure?
Biotech CEO Robert Johnson told me that when he did business development at Lilly he was paid to bring deals forward for the firm to consider.… Read the rest
The voicemail left on my phone was all-too typical. “Mike this is Kelwin. I just wanted to let you know that I’ve applied for a few jobs and you may be getting some reference calls. Thanks for any help you can send my way. I’m really hoping one of these jobs work out.”
Limp job references, like limp handshakes, are never a way to make a decent impression.… Read the rest
Sometimes the best (and hardest) lessons you learn are when you’re a child. They can also happen when you’re a parent of a child.
In both situations the best you hope for is that everyone comes out learning something from which they can grow. Your wish, in effect, is that it’s the silver lining that gets explored, not just the hard edges and rough lessons of the dark cloud that envelopes it.… Read the rest
Trust, it’s been suggested, is comprised of three underlying elements: motive, reliability, and competence. Have all three and you have trust; miss on one and you likely have skepticism and distrust.
This post helps you to better understand the motive part of the equation, and how you can improve the ability of people to trust you.
Just as with working as a candidate with recruiters – see Can You Trust the Recruiter?… Read the rest