Where Are You Looking?
Author’s Note: Today launches a new series I am calling Summer Shorts: Leadership Insights in 100 words or less. I will run this through the beginning of September. A leader is someone that looks outside the organization and surveys the horizon. This allows them to set the pace, and for others to follow. Given the […]
Necessary Endings
(Author’s note – I wrote this post in early February and delayed posting it due to COVID-19 and more time-relevant posts) Should Tom Brady leave the New England Patriots? While in some ways sports differs from business organizations, here are three reasons to embrace necessary endings. Necessary endings allow for upward mobility in an organization. […]
Why Wait?
Do you ever experience regret? Unless you are not human, of course you do. And so do I… Regret often occurs from the failure to do something that you intend to do. It is obviously much deeper than this, but in the context of “social distancing,” it feels timely to think of regret in this […]
One Rarely Discussed Problem with Multitasking
I have been using COVID-19 to make observations about myself in an attempt to grow as a leader and I encourage you to do the same. Today’s post originates from one such observation. I have noticed that I am constantly “doing” multiple things at the same time. Many, if not most, of these things are […]
I Do Not Know…
Growing up in suburban Chicago I had the mistaken notion that racism was a thing of the past. When a long-term friendship with someone from a different race morphed into a dating relationship, I learned how mistaken this notion was. The first time we walked into a restaurant as a couple, people glared at us. […]
Planning Vs. Preparing
No one could have adequately planned for COVID-19. Not only did it come unannounced, it has changed things at such a rapid pace that what you thought you knew yesterday is outdated by the time you drink your morning’s coffee the next day. This is a crisis, which means you cannot plan for it. But […]
Time for Action
As the West’s experience of COVID-19 continues into another month, I have begun noticing patience growing thin. I have noticed myself becoming more critical of decisions being made by governmental officials, and more annoyed at the inconveniences of sheltering in place. The economic decline, and potential repercussions, add to the already immense stresses of the […]
3 Qualities Your Team Must Embrace in a Crisis
Whatever we want to call this season we are in (COVID-19, Recession, or something else), the reality is that it is different from the one that roughly ended on March 13, 2020. The previous season can almost be characterized with one word: GROWTH. Words like innovation, technology, robotics, and sustainability, all became commonplace. In return, […]
Can One View It Dutifully?
I write these words from my home office. It is Tax Day, or was supposed to be Tax Day. The view I have is to our backyard and the ground is covered with a thin blanket of snow. A week ago, the temperature approached 80 degrees in Chicago. Now winter has reminded us that it […]
Healthy Coping Mechanisms
I sense that most people are experiencing some fatigue these days. This is uncharted territory that we are in. I mean, who would have thought Tom Brady would choose the Bucs? The Bucs! Ok, I meant the other thing. I don’t want you to burn anymore brain calories reading this blog so I am going […]