Recently, I read a post on LinkedIn that recommended added free features for job seekers. Give them greater visibility, increased profiles, more InMail messages. Basically, make it easier for people to use the system to find a job which is one of the key uses of the site. 830 comments with most seeming to agree…
No one is ever wrong all the time, no one is ever right all the time. Know there is a balance.
Look deep into yourself. You know that you are often wrong. I know it of myself. It’s simply not possible. Sometimes you make decisions too quickly. Sometimes you don’t know enough on a topic. Sometimes the brain just skips a beat. It happens. If you know it’s true of yourself, why wouldn’t it be true…
It’s your responsibility to challenge the decisions you are asked to make.
There’s has never been a publicly renowned rubber-stamper. Yes-men do not have songs of praise written about them. Brown-nosing your way to the top is not often a good approach for long-term success. At some point, you will have the responsibility to be the bad guy. As someone responsible for making decisions, you will sometimes…
Barbarians at the Gate and the culture of change
I just finished reading the phenomenal book Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco. It’s a great book and a story everyone who wants to succeed in business should know at least the bones of it. At its core, this is a story about leadership that creates and implements plans that may or…
Things can go wrong even when you do everything right.
It’s not good enough to just be right. To a very real extent, the phrase “the ends justify the means” can feel too close to the truth. Let’s start over. Outcomes are sometimes independent from process. What this means is that sometimes everything works out perfectly even when everything goes wrong, all the wrong people…
Gaining comfort talking about a topic is a process everyone should practice.
I’m a big supporter of the theory that everyone should be able to speak clearly and articulately about the work they do. They should have a 1-minute version, 5-minute, and 30-minute version ready to drop at any given moment. If you cannot articulate what you do, how can you communicate to your team what is…
Never forget about the human factor variable in your processes
The human factor is a variable that must be included as a variable in everything we do. If your process can be thwarted by someone having a bad day, you haven’t appropriately considered the human factor. If your process assumes always being run by someone perfect and rational, you haven’t appropriately considered the human factor….
Stress is one of those sneaky, silent problems.
Stress is a pain. It causes real-life health issues. It decreases mental focus. It destroys productivity. It eliminates morale and engagement. It is often ignored. I’ve personally taken a few rides on the stress carousel. While in the middle of the ride, it felt like all of the problems were my own and I was…
Silence should never be taken as agreement.
Many meetings include a statement of “silence is agreement.” It’s a nice, clean statement that can grease the rails of that particular meeting to get to the end. However, saying it and having it be true are two very different realities. There are many reasons that people would not speak up on a call. Assigning…
Traversing the levels of experience, knowledge, and understanding.
There are many ways to get experience but they all have one thing in common: time. You cannot gain experience without putting in the time. Some people may be able to get there faster, but it still takes time. Some people choose to traverse through the levels by getting a Bachelor’s, Master’s, and then Ph.D….