The team was concerned. They were making an organizational change. At the same time, they were under pressure to move into new markets. People were anxious. They believed the internal conditions weren’t stable enough to pursue new opportunities externally. They were wrong. My father once told me, “If you.
[Read More]
You need to chill out. Just relax; it’s no big deal. The above comments are intended to be comforting, but when you tell a high performer to calm down, it has the opposite effect. It makes them want to scream. A friend of mine’s son was stressing out about.
[Read More]
How would you evaluate your parenting? If you’re like most of us, you probably do some things well, and some things not so well. My husband and I have been parents for two decades. We have two daughters. We haven’t been perfect parents; anymore than either of our own.
[Read More]
I lost my Dad, Jay Earle, last week after a 6-month battle with cancer. Regular readers know my father’s stories: The skinny 1950s teen who played sax in a dance band with Warren Beatty, the 18-year-old who became a Chief Petty Officer in the Navy by volunteering for dirty jobs,.
[Read More]
A critical decision is one that shapes your future, things that affect your career, your relationships, and your reputation. We often agonize over non-critical decisions. Deciding what kind of car to buy is probably not going to have a big impact on your career. Deciding how to cut your.
[Read More]
What subject do you give the most airtime to? If someone asked your team what you care about, what would they say? How about your family? I regularly get a similar email from different people, in different jobs around the world that speaks to the issue of airtime. The.
[Read More]
Does life ever sometimes seem like one big long to-do list? With too much to do and not enough time to do it, life can easily become a grind. We often think that an easier life would be a happier life, but in many cases that’s not so. Once.
[Read More]
Do you remember your most horrible teacher? What about your worst boss? You can probably still hear their words in your head. I have vivid memories of my sixth grade teacher, whom I shall not name, peering over her glasses at me, rolling her eyes, and uttering her familiar.
[Read More]
Does innovation come from within, or is it driven by outside forces? We often think of innovation as a random stroke of genius, a spark of creativity ignited by a great mind. But some of our most notable innovations have actually been the result of people who dedicated themselves.
[Read More]
What dictates your spending? Your current economic circumstances? Or the lifestyle in which you were raised? I grew up as the eldest of four kids in a house that only had one bathroom. I was raised on SPAM. We never had money for vacations. My mother’s mandate on brand.
[Read More]
