I used to consider strategic thinking the most essential skill for the planning, future-oriented aspects of leadership. (In parallel with the equally-essential skills of emotional intelligence and trust-building, of course!) I’ve changed my mind. Critical thinking is more important, especially since one can’t think strategically without first thinking critically. And here’s the fun part: critical thinking is a life skill, …
Can you be “confidently ignorant”?
I came across this concept of “confident ignorance” long enough ago that I don’t remember where I saw it, but it stuck with me. What does it even mean? And is it a bad thing, or a good thing, or what? I’ve concluded that, like so many things, it depends. Let’s look at both sides. The “bad thing” side I’ve known …
Hacks, Habits, and Practices (oh my!)
A thoughtful reader wrote to me after last week’s article “Un-Hack your life“. (Thanks, Mark!) He was wondering about, as he put it, where to draw the line between “hack” and “advice.” Was it about the amount of effort needed, or was there something else? I replied, saying that I thought we were basically in agreement about the sorts of …
What is “integrity”?
I was sitting in traffic a few days ago, deliberately not going through the light toward the left-turn lane, which was backed up. You know, “don’t block the box.” The person behind me wasn’t happy about it. There’s a common saying that “integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching.” Which is valid, of course. But I …
What questions are you asking?
“As long as the answer is right, who cares if the question is wrong?” That’s the Dodecahedron, from the absolutely delightful book The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, with illustrations by the inimitable, and sadly recently deceased, Jules Feiffer. I’m rereading it for the gazillionth time, having just given a copy to a friend to read to his seven-year-old daughter. There’s …
Are you sturdy?
Sturdy. It is – in my opinion – a woefully under-used word. And as someone who frequently rants about over-used words, a.k.a. buzzwords, I’m delighted to find an under-used word that’s so useful. Sturdy. Are you sturdy? According to various online dictionaries, “sturdy” is usually applied to someone’s – or something’s – physical qualities: strong, unlikely to break, solid. Let’s …
Whose advice?
Whose advice do you trust? A common interview question for leaders and entrepreneurs is, “What’s the worst career advice you’ve ever gotten?” The followup question, of course, is, “What’s the best?” I’m not here to weigh in on what’s good advice and what’s not. What I do want you to think about is – how do you decide? Whether you’ve …
Permission to Be
What if we all had permission, in 2025, to just be who we are? Live the life we want, and work toward having that life? This is, of course, a position of privilege. Too many don’t have access to basic needs, never mind the space to lift their gaze and imagine possibilities. Seems to me, though, that this makes it …
And then there’s Power
So, what about leadership and power? I was thinking about this question after last week’s article “Why lead?” Some people confuse leading with having power. And yes, leaders have power, but that’s not what’s important for true leadership. Those who go into leadership for the power it confers upon them aren’t leaders, in my view; instead, they’re likely to be toxic petty …
SEALs, priorities, and to-do lists
Ever think there’s just too much to do all at once right NOW?! Yeah. Me too. My brain is often buzzing with all the things that need doing … NOW! They’re all priorities. But wait. Did you know that it was only in the early 1900s that the word “priority” became plural? Up till then, for the 500 years from its …