Have you ever given brilliant advice to someone who couldn’t receive it? Of course you have. I want to tell you about one of my biggest mistakes. I’ll also share with you one of the secrets of getting good help. We all need help, but don’t often realize we can make ourselves more helpable. As…
Here’s one crazy idea that has the power to change an entire company: no adult should need supervision. I’ll explain. Let’s define supervision this way: Ensuring somebody who already knows what to do, actually does it right. Management on the other hand, we can define as supporting people to grow and learn in ways they…
I know. You’re tired of hearing about New Year’s Resolutions. But I promise you something new here. We’re going to turn the whole thing on its head, and that’s always fun. What if everything you’ve been taught about goal setting left out the key ingredient? And that’s why your eyes glaze over when you hear…
We love quick-fixes. Unfortunately, for the things that really matter, they rarely work. Think about your expertise. Think about your greatest achievements. Think about a change you’ve made in yourself. Did any of those things happen from implementing “X Easy Ways to Blah Blah Blah” that showed up in your inbox one day? Probably not.…
I get asked a lot about family businesses, and I’ve helped hundreds. Family business problems begin with an innocent mistake: the assumption that working with someone you love is easy. The truth is there are few things more difficult. Once you accept that you’ve inadvertently taken on an Olympic-level challenge, things can change. It’s actually…
Prior to about twenty years ago, you didn’t hear much on the subject of employee engagement. Then a bunch of management consultants discovered it was a billion dollar problem. It’s my hope and prediction that in the next twenty years one of its root causes is recognized as widely. Employee engagement was revealed as a…
Because metaphors involving sexy cars are always fun…. I’ve ogled the valet lots Newport Beach, CA, where Porsches are pedestrian, but the fanciest car I’ve ever seen was in a Home Depot parking lot in the sleepy town of Phoenix, Oregon. I didn’t know what I was looking at, the only writing on this polished…
What’s your relationship to management metrics? It’s normal not to be able to answer right away. You’ll find yourself somewhere on the spectrum of metrics-obsessed to metrics-phobic. It doesn’t matter where you are on the spectrum. What matters is that you can learn about yourself and your business or department wherever you are. People think…
Many want to become a better manager, but don’t know how. Management is one of those things people feel like they should know how to do well, despite that it’s the most difficult aspect of business that most people receive little to no training for. Especially if you already are a manager, there’s an assumption…
Our world of fiction is filled with evil characters who seek to dominate the world, immerse it in darkness, let loose destruction and mayhem, and do other “evil” things. While such stories can be entertaining, they contribute to an already less-than-responsible world and complicate accountability. Here’s how…. The vast majority of people have good intentions.…