(excerpt from my forthcoming book Live Hard) We’ve all made fun of bureaucracy, right? Bureaucracy is an organizational reality that involves a hierarchy of authority with a defined reporting structure, rigid division of labor and control of resources, and lots of formal and informal policies and procedures for everything. People fill assigned roles and work […]
JOIN THE PARTY?
Wouldn’t it be nice if work was a simple meritocracy? The rules and metrics would be clear. As a result, knowing who is performing well would also be very clear. Promotions would go to the most capable, the process would have no ambiguity, perceived fairness would be high, and so on. It’s simple, right? Not […]
THREE STAGES OF YOU
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 […]
JOIN THE REVOLUTION!
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 […]
SHOULD YOU JUMP?
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 […]
DIVERSITY AND THE FUTURE OF LEADERSHIP
Dear Millennials, Gen Z, and beyond: the global population is aging – the so called silver tsunami has begun. It is your gift to unwrap. In talent pools across the planet, older people are exiting the workforce in large numbers. This means that women, minorities, and young people will assume positions of leadership like never […]
ON BREAKING RULES
I was taking a business trip to Hartford when it happened. I ignored the flight attendant’s instructions to put away my laptop. I was sitting in row one by the window, so there was no storage. My only option was to put the laptop in my backpack in the overhead compartment. Instead, I decided to break […]
PASSION AND AMBITION
Huge thanks to John and the team at HRExaminer! If you have not yet checked them out – do it now. They have created an amazing space to talk about senior HR issues, especially those pertaining to HR tech issues. They also ask me to post on leadership-related topics occasionally. I hope you find it […]
A CLOSER LOOK AT UNITED’S DECISION TO FAIL
I don’t often directly address the headlines, but this one is so intriguing. I have enjoyed flying on United for years, thus this latest snafu is comment worthy. It can certainly teach us something about decision-making and leadership. So, how did United fail so spectacularly? In terms of decision-making, the first error was blind cult-like adherence to “the […]
HAMMER, MEET NAIL
[Here is a short one. A simple idea with a big impact. It was originally posted at HRExaminer a few days ago (http://www.hrexaminer.com/hammer-meet-nail/). Great site with tons of great advice. Check it out!] It’s one of the most common workplace mistakes: applying the wrong solution to a situation simply because you went with your […]
