The Most Important Question to Ask When Facing a Big Decision
What if you could pre-screen a movie of your life to help guide you in making your most pivotal decisions? Can you imagine knowing how your screenplay unfolds would guide your answers to the biggies: Should I follow my passion and shift careers? Should I relocate my...
How to Motivate Yourself
I had just finished reviewing the syllabus with my Masters level leadership class, and asked my typical follow-up question. “What else would you like to cover?” Lin raised her hand and asked sincerely, “Professor, you are so passionate about what you...
Excited vs. Excitable: The Real Secret to Executive Presence
The situation would have sent any leader who cared running for aspirin. I asked Mark, the Senior VP, “Are you okay? Are you stressed? What needs to happen next?” Mark responded, “Karin, I don’t get stressed. There’s no use in that. But as...
Managing Millennials: What’s Really Different
A working student in my evening MBA program approached me to talk about a work situation that was driving her crazy. She gave me the gory behind-the-scenes view: a few apathetic employees were fully taking advantage of a system that had let them get away with...
Effective Delegation: An Easy to Use Tool
When you’re overwhelmed, stressed, and busy, you know the natural answer is to delegate more. But there’s a risk. When you’re moving fast it’s easy to get sloppy or overbearing in your delegation: (see 3 delegation mistakes you don’t have...
5 Big Rules For Productive Conference Calls
It’s easy to fool ourselves into the illusion that “just having a conference call,” instead of a face-to-face meeting or one-on-one, will save time. In fact, it’s that kind of thinking that leaves many managers moving from call to call with little time to...
What To Do When You're Really Stuck
I received this email from subscriber (modified enough for anonymity). Let’s call him Guy. Would you be up to offer a little free advice to beat down manager? I have been in some type of leadership position for over a decade now. Two years ago I took over as manager...
Jack, Jill and a Slippery Hill
Antoine was an accomplished millennial retail sales professional considered “a bit rough around the edges.” His no-BS approach created a natural bond with entrepreneurs and mom and pop companies, that left some managers scratching their heads. But, heck it worked....
