It sounds good, right? According to most dictionaries, to be fulfilled is to feel satisfied or happy. You don’t want to be fulfilled. You want to be intermittently fulfilled. You have to make it a part-time job or it becomes a full-time problem. To feel fulfilled, when predicated on hard work and achievement, is a […]
LEADERSHIP REDEFINED
The most common definition of leadership suggests it is an influence process focused on maximizing what a group can accomplish in terms of goal attainment. I’ve never been comfortable with this definition. Let’s consider each part of the traditional definition and a few things that should be added: To start, yes, leadership is a process. […]
LEADING IS A PROCESS
Leadership isn’t just about making the right call. Ultimately, success is about execution. The right decision implemented poorly isn’t worth anything. So, it’s useful to think about leadership as a process. For every significant decision or project, think about the before, during, and after. Before you make the call, there is plenty of work to […]
EXECUTION IS EVERYTHING
It’s fun to research, assemble, and try out your own personal bag of tricks to be applied to relationship and career issues. I love finding new rules, maxims, and tools to consider. However, you do run a risk when you find new practices to try. If you try something once and it works, there is […]
STUCK HAPPENS
One minute things are flowing and the group is killing it. The next minute it seems as if you’re all slogging through a field of thick mud. Progress slows or stops. Stuck happens. You might find yourself stuck as a team due to long hours, seemingly impossible tasks, never-ending changes demanded of you, or some […]
BATTLING BUREAUCRACY
(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 […]
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 […]
THE SECRET TO ACCOUNTABILITY
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. […]
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 […]
POLITICS ISN’T A DIRTY WORD
Engaging in random hallway chats, or proactively starting conversations about issues in the office is not bad behaviors per se. Politics at work is simply about staying in the loop, helping shape the narrative on certain issues, and understanding your peers’ agendas. In a nutshell, if you wish to be an effective decision maker, you […]
