Being a middle manager is kind of like being in the middle seat on an airplane. It’s uncomfortable in both directions. We’ve got to take strategy from above and communicate it into tasks for front-line workers. Then we need to provide advice to the workers about how that’s going, and …
I worried all the time. The only thing that I didn’t worry about was worrying too much. Ironically, worrying too much was exactly the thing I should have been concerned about. I thought it was just part of everyone’s nature. But it doesn’t have to be. If you’re anxious all …
Once I was at a fancy party at a Dallas mansion with a lot of important people. I went up to the host to thank him for his hospitality. I smiled, stuck out my hand and the host’s friend said “Qualify yourself. Tell him why he should talk to you.” Instantly …
When company leaders want to make big changes, they often stick to familiar methods that don’t quite hit the mark. That’s why 70% of company-wide transformations end up failing. There are three common mistakes that leaders make when trying to bring about change. First, they underestimate how hard it is …
Once Abraham Lincoln was giving a speech when he was interrupted. “You’re two-faced!” a heckler yelled from the crowd. Lincoln responded, “if I had two faces, do you really think that I’d choose to wear this one?” Lincoln understood that using humor could disarm his enemies. Leaders with a sense …
Between 27 and 46 percent of leadership transitions end in failure, with organizational politics being the main challenge. Nearly 70 percent of leaders wish they had changed the culture faster. To navigate this transition successfully, leaders should acknowledge the previous leader’s contributions, create space for forgiveness, and understand the experiences …
Marc and Al came up with a cool new textured wallpaper, but sadly, it was a total flop – nobody wanted it. They even tried using it as housing insulation, and that also didn’t work out. But then they had an idea: using it to wrap a newly launched computer …
We weren’t really mad at each other, but it sure seemed that way. While I was in law school, my future wife drove a few hundred miles to see me after a discussion over text where we both misread tone. I don’t recollect what we wrote to each other that …
There are two donut shops near my office. The donuts taste identical. The interiors are similar. The locations are equally convenient. But at one donut shop, the employees mumble and are more interested in the cash register buttons than the customer in front of them. At the other store, the …
There are many significant traits of exceptional leaders. Integrity is at the top. Two stories show the power of integrity in the lives of others. Story One – Easy Eddie Al Capone owned virtually all of Chicago in the 1920s. He had a net worth of more than one billion …
