Let’s get real. Too many people are in the business of busyness. In fact, a crammed-full calendar is sometimes regarded as a badge of honor. Living on the edge of burnout is too often accepted as “just the way it is.” What’s up with this? How did we ever get on this deadly and counterproductive…
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With a wife, three daughters, eight granddaughters, and hundreds of female friends and colleagues, I have a well-developed appreciation for the amazing value women bring to our ever-evolving world I’m also aware that gender bias, social traditions and other realities of modern life can pose speed bumps for women. I wish it weren’t so, yet…
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No one on his deathbed ever said “I wish I’d spent more time at the office.” Don’t get me wrong. Work is a wonderful thing. It can be very fulfilling and can provide meaningful service to others. But personal relationships are the most important things in our lives. It’s through relationships with others that we…
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Many leaders use present-forward thinking to move their organizations forward in small increments. Conversely, “future-back” thinking can enable leaders to plan for and build a more prosperous and sustainable future. That’s the view of Mark W. Johnson and Josh Suskewicz, co-authors of Lead from the Future: How to Turn Visionary Thinking into Breakthrough Growth. In…
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“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Anyone who’s only faintly familiar with American history will recognize this quote from Franklin Roosevelt’s first inaugural address. That confident assertion was in the very first paragraph of his 1,916-word speech. It became a rallying cry for a nation dealing with economic depression, war, and…
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Most of us have heard that people don’t quit jobs, they quit bosses. Salary and benefits are of course important. But high on most everyone’s must-have list is respect. People want to be treated with dignity. This isn’t touchy-feely stuff. It applies to loud and tough-minded people just as much as to the most soft-spoken…
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Early in my career—back in the stone age before computers and smartphones—I worked in environments where memos were a primary means of communication. Sure, my colleagues and I could talk face-to-face, but the culture of the time was to memorialize much of our interaction in writing. Believe it or not, there were some advantages in…
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Let’s face it. Change can be challenging. Especially change you didn’t see coming. And even if you did receive some warning, some change can come across like a splash of cold water. Take, for instance, people who suddenly find themselves in a new manager’s role they didn’t seek. They were just minding their own business…
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Let’s face it. We’re living in a moment of earth-shaking turmoil. Global pandemic. Economic anxiety. Concerns for social justice being drowned out by rioters, looters and fire-bombers. Politicians opting for sound bites over honest dialogue. A “cancel culture” determined to shame and intimidate people into silence. Fragile trust everywhere. Not a good recipe for teamwork.…
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