You’ve probably heard of Fight/Flight/Freeze—the catchier nicknames used to describe the Acute Stress Response. Today I want to share with you a story about a fourth response that I see happening in business settings: Appease. It deserves special attention, especially as it relates to employee engagement. Appease is the most subtle and dangerous stress response…
“We’re closing down the location.” The words always make me smile. I’ve heard them dozens of times, and it’s almost always good news. This time it was Frank (let’s call him that), one of my Clear and Open Members. He was sober and pleased. “But why now?” he almost demanded. “Why did I suddenly realize…
Do you want to improve your work-life balance? You’re not alone. Google it, and you’ll get over 600 million results on the phrase. Many people want to help you with it, and I’m one of them. Most of the advice you hear about how to achieve work-life balance—meditate, unplug, let go of perfectionism, exercise, etc—is…
When I was six years old, my father took me to see The Empire Strikes Back. I remember the car ride home more vividly than any part of the film. We argued about whether the jedi were real. I was sure they were, but my father dismissively invited me to look up jedi in the…
As someone who has been obsessed with truth, beliefs, and values since I was about twelve, I feel qualified to tell you: Your values probably stink. Now, if that didn’t raise your hackles, bear with me. Most leaders, including you, don’t have a clue where to start when creating their company values. And without a…
“For how long have you known that having seventeen people reporting directly to you was a bad idea?” I already knew the answer. As a coach, sometimes I purposefully ask questions I already know the answers to. In this case, I wanted to do two things: Turn up the pain on the situation so my…
The following may offend you—if you feel strongly about your right to not be offended. One of the reasons accountability in business languishes these days is because of how political correctness has gone too far in our world. Please don’t get me wrong: I’m a sensitive person with high standards for maturity and respect. Political…
Welcome to my new look. I hope you like it. Clear and Open is leveling up! And it wouldn’t have happened without some significant failures. That’s what this week’s article is about. Guilty confession time: during my first year of college I was heavily addicted to role-playing games. There were some days where I played…
Here’s a fun story about my own stubborn naiveté, the infamous TSA, and what it means to take ownership of responsibilities. It also helps you save a bunch of time the next time you fly, and since the TSA is too incompetent to communicate their policies proactively, I’m offering my services to them here by…
Talk to any manager long enough and you’ll hear them say something like, “I can’t get my people to….” While I’m prone to rant about the deficiencies of our education system, there’s something most of us already learned that can help. In high school social studies, you probably came across Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development.…