2021 was supposed to be my year of vibrant living. Instead, I faced a “crucible” year. For help with leading through adversity, see 5 Strategies for Facing a Crucible. This post’s narrative presents practical tactics for pushing through when the “to do” list appears never ending. Pick a number. My ongoing joke is my list [...]
Crucible has two meanings. First, it’s the container used in attempts to transform base metals into gold by alchemists of old. Second, a crucible tests a person who seeks to succeed at a significant quest; a source for testing our mettle. In their HBR article, Crucibles of Leadership, Bennis and Thomas write “the skills required [...]
How do we measure our success? The answer offers us really important insight. This year, quite unapologeticically, I could not post. By measures of most business and entrepreneurial marketing gurus, this was a failure. By alternate measures and views, I succeeded. How could this be? 2021 has been what I call my crucible year and, [...]
If ever there was a time in our social and political environment to preserve dignity and build trust, that time is now. Maya Hu-Chan, author of Saving Face: How to Preserve Dignity and Build Trust, intended her work to inform how we create and nurture positive relationships in professional spaces. At the same time, there’s [...]
I stopped creating New Year's resolutions several years ago. Instead, a word captures an overarching theme or intention. For 2021, my word is "vibrant," as in living and leading vibrantly. While I still set goals, with objectives or milestones laid out by quarter or month, I also invest time to reflect how my planning and execution [...]
First things first: this post is about the recently published Every Penguin in the World by author and photographer Charles Bergman. The leadership lessons represent my take-aways from experiences that Bergman shares with readers, not some allegorical story (think, Kotter’s Our Iceberg is Melting). Let’s get started. The full title of Charles Bergman’s book is [...]
I struggled a bit with categorizing Brad Chases’ Strategy First: How Businesses Win Big for readers who would benefit from the content. I give Chase huge props for making the case for intention around strategy. Businesses flounder when attention isn't focused on the strategic and Chase makes good points for helping leaders consider what aspects [...]
I believe in the inherent dignity of all humans. I believe in inclusion and respect. I believe in civil discourse, even when we must be at our most courageous. There will be many images, quotations, expressions, and actions in the coming days. I want mine to be simple. I see pain, heartbreak, frustration, and anger. [...]
Modern life has its pitfalls. In this post, we’ll cover two separate but related issues commonly faced in a world of always on, always connected. First, we’ll explore the impact of allowing devices to drive our actions and reactions. I’ll introduce author Haley Evans and her book, Hung Up: Why You Should Put the Phone [...]
Win Every Day: Proven Practices for Extraordinary Results, Mark Miller’s latest contribution to his High Performance Series, is another win (pun intended) for business leaders who want to make an impact. If your organization's execution is ho-hum or faltering, Win Every Day lays out the game plan for change. For readers unfamiliar with the series, [...]
