Keep up to speed on Todd’s latest thoughts, books, clients, and professional activities.
I know that sometimes I sound like I’m coming down hard on leaders, pushing them to do better. Other times it seems like I’m coming down on employees, begging them to get a clue. Guess what? Both are true! I am an equal opportunity offender. Most leaders should be better, and most employees should try […]
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We often make heroes out of our innovators. They are activists, change agents, and provocateurs. Following their big wins, they are celebrated. But how accurate is our portrait? Not very. They always experience strife we forget. It’s true in business as it is in society. When a new gadget comes out, a fancy piece of […]
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Many people embrace personal improvement, but the process can be difficult. You see, there are only three stages of personal growth: indulging ignorance, building independence, and chasing potential. All lives begin in ignorance. Too many never escape. It’s so easy. A person is born, told what to believe as a child, and never learns to […]
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[I am about to launch my latest book The Ten Delusions, but I’ve already jump-started work on the next book too. It’s called Live Hard. It’s intended to be inspiration for living more fully, thinking outside the box, taking principled risks, etc. One possible story I’m working on for the book, draft below, deals with […]
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THE SECRET TO ACCOUNTABILITY It’s a topic people are always talking about for a reason. Holding people accountable is difficult, but it doesn’t have to be if you know what you’re doing. There are three main solutions people typically offer for the accountability challenge. First, they say that it’s a matter of setting clear expectations. […]
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What a fascinating time to watch the shift in generations across the modern talent pool. To put it mildly, what was considered progressive just a few years ago will become an absolute expectation in the next few years. Much has been said about what the younger generations value and what we must do to make […]
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In the past, professionals worked for a few companies over the course of a career. Today, increasingly, they work for many – easily ten or more employers in a career. Unfortunately, many of these “jump” decisions are not smart. They are well-intentioned, but not necessarily productive. There are very real costs associated with making bad […]
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So far, death almost got me three times. If you’ve ever looked death in the face or been with someone who has, you know what I’m talking about. Nothing helps you realize how beautiful, amazing, and precious life is like facing death. The first time I almost died I was in the third grade. A […]
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There are many things a leader can do to earn trust and build loyalty. One of my favorites is to embrace transparency. That means sharing as much of your thinking as is reasonable and sharing what you know about what happens outside the group. You should of course stay within relevant work rules or instructions […]
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I’m as guilty as anyone, but this isn’t a great lead question. You’re networking, you don’t know the person, so you say, “What do you do?” It’s innocent, but not ideal. Every person who is asked this question feels narrowly defined by one particular label. You’re an accountant, an executive, a software engineer. We are […]
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