Recent Blog Articles

work-life balance myth

Work-Life Balance is Just a MYTH

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…

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You’re Hearing, But Are You LISTENING?

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…

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leadership values and engagement

More than likely, your values stink

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…

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If you know but do not act Then you do not truly know Consult your fear

Why are you avoiding what you KNOW?

“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…

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The price you pay for truth is the falsity you must forever leave behind

Caution: This Post May Offend You

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…

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Leveling Up in Life - Personal Growth - Clear and Open

Leveling Up in Life

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…

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What We Can Learn from the TSA About Management - Clear and Open

What We Can Learn from the TSA

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…

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What You Missed In High School About Management - Clear and Open

What You Missed In High School About Management

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.…

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Truth as an Asset - Clear and Open

Truth as an Asset

What is your company’s most important asset? Your people? Your brand? Your intellectual property? What if it’s none of these things? What if the most important assert were your culture’s relationship to truth? By this I mean, generally speaking, how honest people are with themselves and others. Honesty is a quality that people tend to…

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What Managers Fear the Worst - Clear and Open

What Managers Fear the Most

Right now, somewhere in you, you are suffering. And part of that pain is inevitably a resistance to change. Here, I’m going to tell you the most-resisted change that keeps leaders and managers from success. Your relationship to change and the way your people relate to change is the most important asset you have. It…

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