Last week, we talked about how I attempt to gather all my “parts” before I enter into a high-stakes conversation, especially if there’s potential for hurt feelings or nuance that might be missed. I do that because I need my analytical mind, spidey-sense, bridge-builder people skills, and hard-nosed business skills; I need all of them…
I like to think of myself as being a coherent whole person, but that description isn’t fully accurate. I’ve got some parts. (I’m betting you have some too.) On the one hand, I’ve got a very analytical, rational, and logical side—that part of me that loved calculus and engineering, who turns everything into a puzzle…
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” ~ John Quincy Adams Reading this made me wonder, by Adams’ definition, how am I doing as a leader? Dream More Learn more Do more Become More There’s nothing more valuable to a company, or that…
I’ve been thinking and reading about leadership lately. Specifically, I’m trying to more clearly articulate what I mean when I say, “Better humans make better leaders.” What does “better” mean in that sentence? Mature? Enlightened? Capable? These words have the same problem. What do they mean? How do you measure them? So, I’ve started to…
Every calculus problem was like a brain teaser. There was always a trick or method that could simplify this big, messy equation — I just had to find it. As the class progressed, I learned more and more “tricks” to solve “messier” equations. It felt like magic and I was becoming a wizzard! But here’s…
I’ve been sitting in on some of my clients’ team meetings and have had one consistent reaction. I sat through this same meeting in 1995. I don’t mean with the same people or even with the same agenda. But the way we’re conducting our meetings largely hasn’t changed throughout my whole career! Usually, there’s a…
If your work is successful, it generates more work; as a result, the concept of “finishing your work” is a contradiction in terms so blatant and so dangerous that it can lead to nervous breakdowns—because it puts the pressure on the wrong places in your mind and habits. Kenneth Atchity, as quoted in Beyond Entrepreneurship…
George Lucas created the Star Wars franchise, one of the highest-grossing entertainment franchises ever. When he sold it to Disney in 2012, they paid over $4 Billion for it. George Lucas also created Jar Jar Binks. Not only did he create the character, but in April 2019, he named Jar Jar Binks his favorite Star…
If you’ve led your agency for any length of time, you’ve experienced some ups and downs. For example, here’s an email I got from an agency owner this week: I thought the deal would catapult us into a new level of stability. I had verbal commitments and contracts out. In the meantime, we were working…
Contented: satisfaction with one’s possessions, status, or situation. Merriam-Webster Part of being grounded is knowing that I have what I need at this moment, and when challenges or opportunities arise, I can meet them with confidence. Another word for that is contentment. When I live from a place of contentment, it’s harder for people to…