Perhaps your dad or mom was a successful entrepreneur. Or perhaps you’ve been a hardworking, loyal part of the machinery that helped build a company. Now, however, you’ve been promoted to CEO and are wondering: “Do I deserve this? Will people respect me? How do I change course without upsetting Dad or Mom or the […]
It’s August as I write this and over 90 degrees. I’m trading emails to set up a February ski trip with some fellas I’ve skied with for 30 years—minus a couple of years for injuries. I don’t know about you, but one of the worst things about the COVID pandemic was having zero anticipatory excitement […]
As companies struggle to figure out their optimal work environment, I’ve observed numerous “workplace pundits” (funny how many have never run an organization!) suggest that if one person is unwilling or unable to attend a face-to-face work event, then everyone should adopt a less-desirable option (e.g., Zoom or phone). What?! This is not only dumb […]
I have a growing sense of alarm that the workplace solutions being established in many companies, perhaps yours, lack complete thoughts around the unintended consequences. (See Exhibit 1, Exhibit 2, Exhibit 3, Exhibit 4 and Exhibit 5 for starters.) My greatest concern for burdened CEOs — who’ve had to improvise a lot over the past […]
I frequently watch family members whom I love avoid conflict and, paradoxically, increase their stress level. Unresolved conflict is like an unpaid bill. It doesn’t go away; it gets bigger the longer you ignore it and eventually causes immense pain. I coach senior executives, who you might assume are assertive and enjoy — or are […]
When I work with executive teams on increasing their effectiveness, one of exercises we do is to identify the “rules of engagement” so that there is clarity about how people interact with each other. Some examples of rules are: > Be prepared for all meetings > All meetings must have an agenda and clear objectives […]
Some of the most rewarding work I’ve done is work with new CEOs. The gap from senior executive to Chief Executive Officer may not seem that large but every CEO I’ve worked with would tell you that it is much larger than it appears. An MBA doesn’t prepare you to be a CEO though it […]
Because I typically travel to work with the executives I coach, I found myself with extra time during COVID. I work with midmarket CEOs and their teams, but for some reason I was getting calls from small business owners. It wasn’t right to turn them away, so I helped some for free or a very […]
“Expenditure of physical or mental effort especially when difficult or compulsory” — “Labor” definition, Merriam-Webster I’m not a fan of the term “labor” to describe some of the workers in the economy. It comes from the Latin word labor which means to toil or trouble. I never viewed the people that worked in the organizations […]
A friend recently sent me a great Far Side cartoon. A group of sheep is standing in a living room with cocktails, and a dog is at the doorway. One sheep says to another: “Henry! Our party’s total chaos! No one knows when to eat, where to stand, what to …. Oh, thank God! Here […]