This might be one of the most soul-crushing questions for capitalists and business leaders to answer! I don’t mean this as a trick question (e.g., Which came first, the chicken or the egg?). Obviously, if you don’t have customers, you can’t have profits. However, you can have many customers and no profits, and that doesn’t […]
In early 2018 as Facebook struggled with privacy issues, I was shocked to hear on NPR that COO Sheryl Sandberg has a sign on her private conference room saying “Only Good News.” (Perhaps there’ll be a follow-up story about her having a corresponding conference room with an “Only Bad News” sign.) As someone who was […]
Determined to shrink the book pile on my credenza, I grabbed “The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today.” Someone recommended it to me several years ago, and I’ve moved it around my office several times since then (always in good company of other “must read” books). I no longer read entire […]
At lunch recently, my friend shared a story about how he was “selected” as a construction manager for a large project years ago. He prepared well for what he thought would be a tough interview. When he arrived, the hiring executive had him wait in the bar. When the executive arrived for the interview, he […]
Several times in my coaching sessions, I’ve asked CEOs and other senior business leaders to rate themselves on a 10-point scale on numerous factors, including fun, and they froze. “OK, call it happiness if you’d like,” I prompted. Still no response. That ain’t right! Executives should be many things: competent, strategic, kind, decisive, communicative… and […]
It Takes an Army OK, maybe a platoon. If you really want to change your behavior, don’t do it solo. I’ve coached executives for a long time and was one myself. The number of talented, disciplined people who can significantly improve their behavior by themselves is extremely small. If you were alone on a desert […]
If you aren’t the most popular person at the cocktail party, don’t fret Good news for those who have more stuff than fluff! “More is better” is a flawed assumption when it comes to charisma in leaders. Moderate amounts of charisma can benefit those in leadership, but at a certain point, too much charisma is […]
There are numerous blogs and columns about how to find a good executive coach — many of them thoughtful, many of them self-serving. I’d argue that, yes, the coach should’ve been thoroughly trained as a coach, but if you’re a CEO or senior executive, you should have a coach who has been in your shoes […]
IBM, one of the most storied companies on the planet, just had its first quarter of year-over-year growth in 23 quarters! Market cap, as I write this, is about $134 billion, so still a significant organization, but down from $210 billion in 2006. Many investors have bailed on IBM, growing impatient as Big Blue gives […]
In interactions with a large number of executives over the last several months a majority listed the “war for talent” as the major issue that they are concerned about in the coming year. I’m only a closet economist and too often the door is closed and the light is off, but I’ll bet the last […]