There’s an old joke that goes, How many therapists does it take to change a lightbulb? Answer: One, but the lightbulb has to want to change. And it’s true that change of any sort – personal or organizational – starts with desire. But that’s not enough, as anyone who’s watched New Year’s resolutions fall by the wayside, or corporate change initiatives …
How NOT to pick a mediator
You’ve faced an unhappy fact: your team needs help. The conflict you face isn’t resolving itself, and each attempt at discussion just escalates the issue. The situation is getting increasingly tense, with finger-pointing accusations and name-calling becoming more and more frequent. The only thing you seem to agree on is that something needs to be done. Perhaps it’s time to hire a mediator. But how …
What’s the most important thing in business?
Before you read further – what do you think the most important thing is in your business? Some might say it’s your product or service. After all, without something to sell, you’ve got no business at all. Others might say it’s the people – your employees. Or your mission, vision, and values. Or your organizational culture, and how you establish shared …
The missing link for real success
You’ve made sure everyone understands your organization’s mission, vision, and objectives. They know their individual goals and they understand their job descriptions and responsibilities. That’s great. And it’s not enough to inspire individuals and teams to their best performance. If it were enough, there would be no lack of follow-through on decisions, no actions out of alignment with the vision, no misinterpretation of …
Leadership … with love
A couple of Saturdays ago, my sweetheart Arthur and I were talking business. (One of our many points of compatability is a shared passion for business geekery!) Having attended a leadership conference the day before, I asked him for his definition of leadership. (I believe leadership skills can be taught, and I also believe that, just like anything, certain people have a special …
The real reason why organizations (and people) fail to succeed
Organizations fail to succeed because they haven’t defined success. I don’t mean they’ve failed to set goals or have no vision of what they want to accomplish. I mean they haven’t defined success as a concept in and of itself. And it’s a tremendously loaded concept. The problem with the concept of success We all have psychological and emotional baggage around …
The art of asking good questions
It’s one thing to have the courage to ask for help, as I mentioned in my last post about Amanda Palmer’s book The Art of Asking. It’s something else again to be able to form a question that actually elicits helpful answers. We’ve been discussing this in my Facebook group, the Clarity Kitchen, and there have been some interesting and insightful comments. …
The Art of Asking: Amanda Palmer
The Art of Asking, by musician/writer Amanda Palmer, hit the bookstores just before the holidays last year. Having watched her TED talk months before, I knew I wanted to read the book. I did not expect to have an addition to my Must Read list for business owners. And yet, here we are: this is a Must Read. You don’t have …
Failure … or defeat?
Failure is not the same as defeat. Unless you allow it to be. It’s probably cliché to quote Thomas Edison, but it’s also relevant: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” If he’d allowed his first – or 100th, or 9,999th – failure to equal defeat, someone else would have invented the lightbulb. We are …
Visible doesn’t mean exposed
I was talking with a client last week who told me that her biggest challenge in being in business has to do with visibility. “I’m a private person,” she said, and went on to describe her fears of having to put too much of herself on public view in order to succeed in her business. As an introvert and a private …