Leadership

[Author’s Context: It is Thanksgiving week here in the United States, which means, hopefully, many of us are taking a moment to pause and be grateful for the things we have. It is also 4:15am here in Connecticut, the feelings are flowing out of me, and I can’t sleep… which means I am writing in […]

There are some universal communication mistakes that anyone can make in the workplace. That’s a pretty long list. But in addition, there are also some communication mistakes that are not universal, but rather are gender specific. And in an era where there is more scrutiny, and far more risk, coming from the things we say […]

Over the last two years, at least one thing should be crystal clear to all of us… that an inability or refusal to evolve can lead to existential threats to our business. “Evolve or die” has become more than just a cliché… it has become a truism that we ignore at our own peril. And […]

If you are like the vast majority of people we meet in our workshops, then you are struggling with too many meetings, too many messages, too many requests, and too many demands on your time. If you are like the vast majority of people we meet in our workshops, then the boundaries between your home […]

The people who know me outside of work, or who know my family, know that we live on a street in a town that takes its Halloween very seriously. Our street has become Halloween central in our town, drawing kids from lots of surrounding communities above and beyond just our own. I keep an accurate count […]

I am an amateur history nerd, and love to read political and military histories in whatever precious little spare time that I have. Recently I was reading a short piece about the mental challenges soldiers often have after they leave the battlefield. After Vietnam, and through to present day, we refer to it as post-traumatic […]

I was in a deep conversation the other day with an executive I am coaching, discussing communication behaviors, leadership styles, and what are the non-negotiable characteristics of great communication and leadership. And at the top of the list we were putting together was this… as often as possible, it pays big dividends to be able […]

Regular readers of this blog know that I am an avid gardener, a weekend activity that has taken on a more prominent role for me in recent years. Prior to my early 40s, I wanted nothing to do with gardening… it was too closely associated with “weeding,” a weekend assignment from my youth that left […]

Long time readers of this blog know that I am a regular (but not constant) amateur poker player. I have a regular game with a group of friends, and our low-stakes game will range from one table of 6-8 players, to occasionally multiple tables with 12-20 players. And once per year, on the first Saturday […]

You can tell a lot about an organization by the way it behaves. The things that an organization says it cares about matter, of course. But what matters more is whether the organization’s actual behaviors match up with its communication. It is one thing to say “our customers come first.” But what matters more is whether, […]