You Push, They Push Back
When things aren’t going in the right direction, how do you approach your team to get better results? Do you talk more, push harder, change managers, insist louder, impose longer hours and harder standards? That’s the path of force, of pushing. It’s also the one that’s most intuitive. Or, do you harness your internal power and […]
The Upside of Anxiety
We often think of anxiety in negative terms. And of course, it can be debilitating and miserable. But it can also be a tool that you leverage, either for your own, or your team’s benefit. Anxiety comes in many forms. Excitement, jitters before a race, and butterflies in your stomach on a first date are […]
If Culture Eats Strategy, What Eats Culture?
Everyone knows the line: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” It’s usually attributed to Peter Drucker, although for the life of me I can’t find any evidence he said it. But Drucker aside, the meaning is what matters. Without the right culture, even magnificent strategies fail. But culture is not the apex predator of strategy. Something […]
The Autonomy Ladder
While there may be oddball, hyper-controlling bosses out there, most of us don’t want to lead an organization full of people who can’t make decision, solve problems, or initiate action. That’s especially true in high-growth start-ups. If employees need non-stop handholding, growth slows. The Self-Generating Team So, ideally, you want a team of people you […]
The Scale-Up Squeeze-Out
There often comes a time in every high-growth start-up when new executive leadership is hired –and sometimes, they replace or displace the stalwart early team members. I’ve heard this phase called “Scale-Up” as distinct from “start-up”. When a start-up begins, it is usually one or two founders, and they work tirelessly to get things going. […]
War Games
Would you rather watch than read? Click here for the 8 minute video. The war in Ukraine has left us all feeling some combination of sadness, anger, and hopelessness. It also reminds us of just high the stakes can be when trying to anticipate the future. Apparently, the US government tried modeling the possibility of a potential […]
Why Does Getting Feedback Suck?
You may enjoy this short, summary video. Literature is devoted to how managers should deliver feedback: Creating a context, “feedback sandwiches” (good news, bad news, good news –in that order) and more. But almost nobody considers the other person…the one receiving feedback. Yet, for every one of us, a time comes when we too get […]
Dying to Go To The Office
It seems like every day I read about the employees who are refusing to leave their homes. They so love being with their families and missing the commute that they won’t give up those advantages. The media is obsessed with that phenomenon. And clearly, it is a trend worth noting. Fantasy vs. reality On the […]
The Chattering Brain
I had a friend who was in a bad romantic relationship. She lived near me, so we so saw each other all the time. For months it seems like every conversation would eventually circle back to her boyfriend. I listened day in and day out to her interpretations of whatever he last did or didn’t […]
Pandemic Lessons
We’re about a year out from the beginning of the pandemic. Moreover, we see the light at the end of the tunnel when everybody is vaccinated, and life can go back to the pre pandemic times. But now that we have a little bit of perspective, it’s a great time to start thinking about the […]