Why don’t problems go away? One simple reason. You don’t do anything. You don’t take action. You just complain about it. “I can’t believe we’ve had that old lawn mower sitting in the garage all these years.” “Why is that lawn mower is still sitting in the garage?” “That lawn mower doesn’t work.” “Ouch! I just tripped over that stupid …
Got strategy? (And why you need one)
When I talk about strategic planning with small business owners and sole proprietors – and even, frankly, with some medium-sized organizations’ leaders – I often see puzzled expressions on their faces. Isn’t “strategy” for big businesses, global corporations, large non-profits, the government, and the military? Well, yes. And it’s for you, too. Small business or non-profit, solopreneur, medium-sized business, and …
Are they values if we don’t follow them?
A few posts ago, I wrote, “Is a value really a value if one doesn’t always practice it?” In hindsight, I can’t believe I asked such a naive question. We’re humans. And therefore, we’re fallible. So of course we’re going to fail to live up to our values some of the time. This includes organizations as well as individuals. While I …
Stop doing that!
You don’t need to do all the things you’re doing. A recent Harvard Business Review article cites the results of a survey conducted with executives, asking them to estimate the cost to their organization, in dollars per day, of wasted time due to what they called “people issues.” The average dollar amounts ranged from a low of about $4,200 to a …
The value of values
Did that title turn you off? I understand. Values are an eye-roller for many people. Organizational leaders love to create their core-values lists, but … how real are they? And when it’s just a bunch of nice-to-have / wish-we-followed words framed on the wall, who can blame people for rolling their eyes? Especially when we witness the mis-alignment between those nice …
Don’t follow me, I’m lost too!
A colleague, having read my recent post “Leadership, Power, and Conflict,” shared his definition of leadership with me. “A leader is someone who has followers.” He added, “So, if you want to be a leader, you need to do two things: (1) Pick a direction and (2) Get people to follow you.” Simple, thought-provoking, and eye-opening, this demands that we ask ourselves: in …
End the tyranny of the urgent!
The tyranny of the urgent over the merely important – it’s a very real thing for many of my clients and, admittedly, often for myself as well. One of the key tools I use to keep that tyranny from running (and ruining) my schedule and my life is the weekly Reflective Review process that I write about in an Action Paper. …
Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer
It’s an old saying. “Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer.” Despite the passionate counter-statement “There are no stupid questions!”, there absolutely are questions that invite a stupid answer. How does that happen? All too easily. A question asked without providing context for how the answer will be used significantly reduces the likelihood that there will be a real …
Sticks, stones, and name-calling
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” It’s a familiar refrain we learn from our parents as children, meant to soothe the pain of being called nasty names by playmates. However, if you’re like most of us, you’ll remember that it wasn’t particularly effective either in helping us feel better or in stopping the name-calling. The …
Leadership, power, and conflict
I know someone who equates leadership with power-over, and vehemently rebels at any sign that his business partner wants to encroach on his territory or take an active leadership role in their business. (I’ll call him James.) I once worked with someone who didn’t have and didn’t want an official leadership title, but who by the simple force of her personality, intelligence, and insight was a powerful thought leader …