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 […]
Whether it’s your inside or outside voice, what you say to yourself and others deserves considerable thought. As someone who occasionally opens his mouth before it’s connected to his brain, I can vouch for the challenges that can cause. A fellow executive coach whom I respect recently said something interesting to me. He was on […]
The purpose of a company is to create a customer The first book I bought for my first graduate school class decades ago was “Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices” by Peter Drucker. He wrote it in 1973, and it’s 800 pages of pure genius. I’m not sure I needed to buy another business book. Seriously. I […]
Being tagged as “strategic” thinker or a “not very strategic” thinker can be a boon or a bust for your career in the business world. Unfortunately, you must dig deeper to understand what the compliment or curse means. Have you ever met a strategic payroll clerk? Probably not, though I bet there are some. Some […]
I’m always befuddled when a company appoints two people to one job. Oh, I get the job-sharing thing. If two dogcatchers work 20 hours a week, there’s one full-time dogcatcher (plus some additional administrative overhead). What amazes me is when a company puts two senior executives in one job (e.g., co-presidents), usually to identify which […]
Thoughtful communication is key “Reason is a slave to the passions.” —David Hume Many executives innately prefer thinking over feeling. It serves them well in many situations and fails them in others. Students of Carl Jung and users of the Myers-Briggs personality assessment know, however, that doesn’t mean they don’t have access to feelings as […]