Demonstrating the amount of effort you’ve put into your work is an interesting challenge in the post-industrial age. In the past, we often had some big (or not so big) thing that we produced. That thing became a symbol of our work effort. It was hard to argue that someone didn’t put in a good …
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Yesterday I filled up my entire gas tank for $15, $1.79 per gallon. It wasn’t that long ago that I recall many experts telling us to brace ourselves. They were certain that we wouldn’t see gas fall below $3.00 for a very long time, if ever. The September 27, 2008 New York Times Article, “Behind …
A friend of mine recently received feedback that if he ever wanted to be seen as successful he needed to take on more responsibility. Otherwise, he could never have enough impact to compete with his peers. I hear this argument made a lot. There is a bias that unless you supervise a large group of …
Read more “In the information age, is scope still a good proxy for impact?”
“You are one of the worst leaders that I’ve worked for.” Imagine my surprise at hearing those words upon walking into the break room. Yet, once I listen to this person’s concerns, I had to agree. Well, I didn’t think I was one of the worst leaders, but I certainly had been making some mistakes. …
What if I told you that my personal goals for the year were: Maintain a healthy weight Don’t bounce any checks Buy groceries once a week Wake up on time each morning Be a good parent My guess is that you’d be pretty underwhelmed. These don’ t sound like goals do they? They sound more …
Read more “Goals should be about more than just doing the job well”
The power of focus is amazing. Focus and concentrate light and get a laser that can cut through steel. Focus your body and movement and you can break a board with your hand. The same holds true for teams. A well-focused team creates more power and impact for your organization. Goals and KPIs are an …
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I love facts and data. They help ensure that I am thinking objectively and drive sound decision making. Despite that, I would not lay down my life for an argument that was solely based upon them. People don’t rally around facts and data. They rally around purpose and meaning. In other words, they rally around …
Many leaders want to create an environment of open communication. Open communication is important for an organization. It ensures that problems and issues get raised, and more importantly solved, in constructive ways. The secret to creating such an environment isn’t communication at all. It’s something more fundamental. If you want an open environment, you must …
NPR recently broadcast a story about how people across the country are reacting to the growing economic problems we face. One expert talked about a recent survey. He made a comment that interested me. I don’t recall the exact figures (they aren’t actually that critical for this post), but the comment went something like this: …
A great way to find meaning in data or when hearing information is to ask questions. Many leaders want to ask questions but don’t know where to start. Ideally your questions should be driven from your existing knowledge and he current situation. Therefore, every situation will have its own unique set of questions. However, to …