This past Tuesday, I was on a conference call with Mindy, an HR Director for a financial services company. I asked her what her company’s biggest leadership issues are. Mindy said, “Our leaders don’t hold their people accountable.”Mindy’s company is not alone. Accountability is an issue for many organizations.According to a survey conducted by AMA Enterprise, … Read more
When you’re asked, “How’s your week going?”, is your gut response to say: Crazy Busy? If so, you’re not alone.Crazy Busy – constant urgency – has become the new normal.Only there’s one problem. If everything is urgent, then nothing is urgent.There are things in life that demand urgency. A heart attack. A house on fire. … Read more
Simon has a problem. Simon’s been in the insurance business for 25 years. A senior leader at his company, he’s knowledgeable, caring, and well-liked by his direct reports and colleagues. Simon’s organization is rolling out their own corporate university, and they’re tapping their senior leaders to serve as faculty to teach various courses to their … Read more
Sarah is the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Last week, she flew across the country to spend an hour meeting with eighteen of her high potential leaders. They were all gathered together at a week-long leadership development program together. In the world of a CEO like Sarah, that trip represents a significant investment. Sarah … Read more
This is a wooden box. Some people use them to jump up onto for exercise.I am one of those people.Two weeks ago, I was using a box quite similar to this one, when I caught my left hand on the edge of box as I was jumping the 24 inches on to it.It hurt, but … Read more
What separates high achieving leaders from the rest?Don is the general manager (GM) of a fast food restaurant. Year after year, he’s won GM of the year within his region of about 100 restaurants. At a conference last week, I had a chance to speak with Mike, Don’s boss and the district manager of his … Read more
The Miss Florence Diner, in Florence, Massachusetts is an American landmark. Literally. It’s been open since 1941, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. My family’s been going to Miss Flo’s for years. We have a family ritual where we go there for breakfast on Election Day, MLK Day, President’s Day and … Read more
Chess is not the easiest game to play. Chess also isn’t the easiest game to teach someone else how to play. I’ve spent the past two weeks trying to teach the fundamentals of chess to my nine year old daughter, Miranda. What’s particularly challenging is explaining the idea of long term thinking. Miranda gets how … Read more
My head was in a fog. I could barely move. All I wanted to do was sleep. This wasn’t my usual week. I was in the throes of a particularly brutish cold. And still- I had stuff to get done. All the momentum on my projects ground to a halt.I didn’t feel like doing anything.In … Read more
On Saturday, I got to be a guinea pig in an experiment on leadership, coaching, and motivation.I didn’t plan for this. It just worked out that way.The laboratory? My local CrossFit gym. The experiment? A group workout, where were matched up to work in teams of two. Saturday’s workout was a 5000 meter row on … Read more
