If you’re a senior leader and serious about not breathing your own exhaust, not becoming the smartest person in the room, and getting too big for your britches, there’s only one vaccine available: willingly take some abuse. If you’re more Putin than Gandhi, it’s already too late. There’s no antidote, only a vaccine. However, if […]
A client recently recommended the book “The Ride of a Lifetime” by Robert Iger, the CEO of The Walt Disney Company. It’s a fascinating story with some good lessons. One interesting subplot occurs during his tenure as COO, working for longtime CEO Michael Eisner. Eisner built a “strategic planning group” (called Strat Planning) that reported […]
A recent report from Stanford’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes based on millions of students and 14 years of data highlights that “most charter schools produce superior student gains despite enrolling a more challenging student population.” (If that makes you squirm, I get it. My mother was a school teacher, and she’d have a […]
I had an interesting conversation about expectations with a thoughtful CEO whom I work with. I’ve had similar conversations with many. Clients often ask, “Shouldn’t I be able to expect ____?” In other words, should a leader be able to expect certain behaviors from his team members without clearly stating the expectation? The short answer […]
It’s only one rung up the ladder, but it’s a large one. You can see it, but you can’t completely understand it until you get there. Becoming a CEO is the culmination of hard work; a healthy, but in-check, ego; some luck; and much skill. But will that skill help you or hold you back? […]
The Wall Street Journal recently reported this: “Software giant Microsoft Corp., in a recent survey of more than 20,000 people, found that 87% of employees say they are productive at work, while only 12% of leaders have confidence that their workers are being productive.” I’m protective of the C-suite as those are the people I […]
I was racing to my office from an appointment when the light ahead turned yellow—the universal indication to hit the gas, which I did. The guy ahead of me, however, saw the yellow light with a different mindset and braked. Luckily, no metal was bent. Although I won’t justify my driving habits, it made me […]
An upcoming trip to fly-fish on a tributary on the Amazon caused me to buy some heavier equipment (i.e., rod, reel, fly line, and flies). The fish down there are river monsters. A trip to the park to try out said gear was humbling. My casting is pretty good, but with that heavy gear I […]
When you view life over the long arc of history, the picture is phenomenal. Death, disease, poverty, war, and other nasty things—when viewed with a 100-year lens—have declined and many things have flourished. If you don’t believe me, pick up Steven Pinker’s book, “Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress.” When I […]
A client recently said, “The one on ones our managers are doing are turning into counseling sessions! How much is too much?” Great question. As a guy who grew up with a single parent, a mother who was very much a “pull yourself up by your bootstraps!” type of gal, my natural inclinations are skewed […]