I want to share a point of view with you that you’ve likely never heard. My last piece about racism was a little scary to share, but well-received, so I thought I’d continue to be bold. I wrote the following for my upcoming course on Paradigmatic Analysis. If unpacking concepts like this is interesting to you, you might enjoy the course.…
This article is about management, racism, and change. I once had a client who complained that his people couldn’t be trusted to perform. “What happens when they make mistakes?” I asked. “We retrain them,” he answered. “What does that mean?” I persisted. “Their manager goes over the process with them,” he said. “But don’t they already…
My clients who’ve been meditating report that they are surprised at how well they’re handling the pandemic. I’m not. 😉 Because I know meditation, when done right, is the most powerful ally available to you. I’ve talked with many people about my upcoming meditation course (begins 4/16) and encountered some misconceptions about meditation that are…
We think the word “apocalypse” means the end of the world, but this isn’t its original meaning. It comes from Greek meaning “uncovering.” That’s what I see happening now: a great revealing of truth. I know these are hard times, harder for some than others. It’s with great compassion and a wide heart that I…
First, I want to say that if you or someone you know are directly affected by the COVID-19 virus, my heart goes out to you. It’s causing a lot of pain in the world and part of that we can’t do anything about. There are precautions we can take, and I’m all for those. What’s…
Is there such a thing as being too nice? I once coached five members of an executive team in an online retail business. The CEO complained of “communication issues” and some people not pulling their weight. Three of the members were co-founders of the company and long-time friends. To sit in a room with them,…
What do leaders and lottery winners have in common? Hint: it’s not luck. We’ll get there, I promise, but first, a more relevant question: Why is management so difficult? If you understand the answer to this question, you can become a great leader. If you don’t, you can only become less bad. Management is like…
“Why aren’t my people just honest with me?” my client lamented. “I keep finding out what’s going wrong far too late!” It’s a common and serious issue. The larger the organization, the more important it is for key information to travel quickly from the front line to management. But if that cycle takes too long,…
Jim was raw, I could tell. He spoke with hesitation, as if he might cry if he wasn’t careful. Something big was up. He had my full attention. “You know I’ve been a rebel for a long time,” he said, “You used to coach me about it. It’s changed a little, but apparently not enough.”…
Managers hear a lot of excuses. I know because they tell me. I also know the reason is because they make a lot of excuses, only they do it more subtly. One of my martial arts teachers once said to a group of black belts, “Watch the white belts very carefully. They make the same…