I was recently working with a client and realized something interesting. She was having a “failure to communicate” with one of her department managers. I asked her to walk me through the conversation – not her interpretation of the conversation – the actual conversation. What I … Read more
Recently, I’ve talked about innovation and what stops us from taking advantage of opportunities. A recent article in the WSJ – “What Makes a Risk Taker” – summarized several studies to conclude that in the right context even the most cautious individual can be a risk taker. And what … Read more
Leaders are often acknowledged for their ability to leverage opportunities that are presented to them. Just as often, they create opportunities out of ordinary events. In other words, they not only open the door when someone is knocking, they do the knocking themselves. Why does this … Read more
We are all leaders, although not all of us would acknowledge it. At some point in our lives, we’ve led people or projects to something or through something. If you’re a parent, you’ve certainly led your children in countless ways. So why don’t more people acknowledge … Read more
The NYT interviewed Steve Case, founder of AOL, in a provocative article “When Attackers Become Defenders, Innovation Is Lost.” Last week I talked about innovation and great ideas coming from a quiet mind. I was intrigued that Mr. Case added another layer to that. He believes thatinnovation rarely … Read more
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal entitled, “How Entrepreneurs Come up with Great Ideas,” asked leaders how they did it and where their inspirations came from. I noticed two common themes. First, that in order for inspiration to strike, many founders said they were … Read more
In a recent article about SurveyMonkey, founder and CEO Dave Goldberg talks about the role of culture in creating his highly successful company.Although there are multiple leadership lessons in the piece, I want to talk about two that I share with my CEO clients regularly. The first is summarized well … Read more
Sheryl Sandberg’s new book, “Lean In,” starts a conversation about why women don’t “lean in” to leadership opportunities. Regardless of your views of the late Margaret Thatcher, she was definitely a woman who leaned in. Politics aside, she did so many things that her detractors … Read more
As the politicians both in Washington and here at home battle over the fate of entitlement programs, I started thinking about what the “entitlement culture” has done to innovation. In a word, it kills it. (see my previous blog on the critical importance of innovation) … Read more
The dreaded performance reviews – managers hate writing them and most employees hate getting them. So why do we do them? Because people need feedback and because we believe we must have a way to assess whether or not a person is “worth” a certain … Read more