Thoughts on people, teams, organizations, communities, effectiveness and success
While lots of us are smart – or at least think we are – almost all of us fall prey to the same common mistake of confusing effectiveness and effort. While effort is really important, the fact of the matter is that trying harder with the wrong approach won’t do much to make you successful.
Why is this important?
There are three behaviors as an executive and leadership team coach that I look for: is the situation diagnosed or understood correctly, are the right (e.g.… Read the rest
Cheating – a less polite way to say exaggerating facts and misstating the truth – is rampant.
While the name of the Dreamgirls song was Fake Your Way to the Top , it might as well be Cheat Your Way to the Top. As Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Leonard Pitts, Jr. – author of a weekly column and the book “ Forward From This Moment ” – said in a recent NPR interview ,” This whole idea that you can cheat your way to the top and it doesn’t matter – and it’s the same as if you’ve worked your way to the there is one of my pet peeves.”… Read the rest
My first trip to China last week as part of work with a client brought back memories of business from almost three decades ago. It was a different time and a very different place, but ff you worked in business in the 1980’s in the United States, all eyes seemed to be focused on Japan. From cars to copiers, Japanese companies could seem to do no wrong, and US companies seemed to be able to do not much right.… Read the rest
The note from my cycling friend began:
“Hi Mike
Part of my problem is that I’ve never fired (or even broken up) with anybody.
Could you call me at your convenience – perhaps this afternoon? I can’t remember some of your keywords/points.
I would love if somebody could do this 4 me.”
Firing people from their jobs should be hard.… Read the rest
Like the song of the Sirens , for some people the “right” backgrounds or the “right” personality test scores suggest “can’t miss” – the certainty that someone who comes from certain schools, certain environments, certain zip codes, or certain Meyers-Briggs personality profiles will be predictably successful.
You’d be wrong: predicting success in business or life does just doesn’t work that way.… Read the rest
There are at least two parts to effective communication: a “wrapper” or form in which the information is shared, and the data or actual content of the information itself. Miss both and you bomb, and get one right but not the other and thing can get bumpy.
My colleague Dr. Jo Whitehouse of Jumpstart BioDevelopment flagged a great resource courtesy Canaan Partners for entrepreneurs seeking start-up investment or just general investment period [Disclosure: Dr.… Read the rest