I’m not a big believer in a sense of urgency as a driver of culture.
Every time I hear that sentence, the hairs on my neck raise, and a shiver runs through my spine.
Don’t get me wrong, I do believe in speed. Just not in urgency.
Almost always, when managers (not leaders) utter these words, there’s more to it than just urgency. … Read the rest
“I don’t pay you to think; I pay you to execute.” — Old School CEO.
Earlier in my career, I spent four years in a company where that was the culture early on.
I was on an expat assignment abroad, and part of my responsibilities was helping design en deliver interventions that would change the culture. … Read the rest
What do you do with milk that has expired?
What do you do with clothes that are no longer in fashion?
Recently I heard the term ‘old school’ again from two different sources within two days.
It had been a while since I heard the term, so it triggered a reaction. … Read the rest
Sometimes you must create deliberate pain to get something you want to do in motion.
I remember vividly a conversation with my mentor Joyce who often talked about CEOs having to create organizational pain once in a while to shake things up.
When things are becoming complacent, and they often do, you need to create pain.… Read the rest
The world deserves better leaders.
That’s why I do what I do.
Doing what I do will help improve our collective human experience, one leader, one conversation at a time.
Ambitious.… Read the rest
“A fish stinks from the head.”
Rumi
Rumi, a Turkish poet who lived towards the end of the 13th century, wrote “The Third Book of Masnavi,” where the phrase appears as follows: “Fish begins to stink at the head, not the tail.”
We often hear this quote in a business environment.
I’m sure you’ve heard it before, and it basically means that when problems arise in a business, it makes sense to look at the top of the company first.… Read the rest
For visionary leaders, one size fits all is over.
These leaders understand that people are different, with different needs, different contexts, and different aspirations for the future.
You can’t lead these people as if they’re all the same.
Erikjan Lantink
Last Tuesday, I wrote to you about my regret for not pursuing opportunities to exploit this model.… Read the rest
My biggest regret is something I did not do nearly fifteen years ago.
I was working in food retail and was part of a group of talents asked to define the organization’s future work strategy.
I had that feeling then, but now fifteen years later, I’m sure.… Read the rest
By the time you read this story, the topic of my story is probably old news.
For most of the news outlets, that is. I hope.
I write my stories approximately a week ahead.… Read the rest
I’ve said ‘Yes’ way too many times in my life.
For the record, I’m not talking here about getting married multiple times.
I mean saying Yes to projects, jobs, activities, fun suggestions, and things others thought I should be doing.
Initiatives that sounded good, were proposed by well-intended people and would undoubtedly create some good experiences and learning.… Read the rest
Last week I conducted my training called “Growing Leaders and Culture.”
Its principles are based on effective dialogue.
Why?
You’ve done half the work if you understand that running a successful business is an accumulation of constructive, forward-looking, and growth-focused dialogues.… Read the rest
Or let’s debate about work a lot (less).
Wow.
They’re so so so good that it’s worth adding them to my portfolio of services. I’m just unsure how to call the service and what the tagline would be.… Read the rest
How do you motivate people?
I’m asking because I recently had a conversation about a hybrid work environment that turned into a conversation about motivation.
My opinion about a hybrid work environment is well documented, for example, in this post.
But if you dig a little deeper, we get to the topic of motivation. … Read the rest
What pisses you off?
I’ll make sure to clarify first at the start of this insight. I’m just asking this question about the work you do.
I’m not asking you about things in your personal life that piss you off. So if your spouse never cleans out the dishwasher, sorry for you, but that’s not the stuff I’m interested in.… Read the rest
Recently I spent a few hours in one room with a highly visionary entrepreneur.
Frequently, I seek the company of visionary leaders because they’re a breath of fresh air in a world where target-driven managers dominate.
People leave managers, not companies.
Read that again.
People leave managers, not companies.
NB. The quote does not say: people leave leaders, not companies.
Leaders vs. Managers. A subtle difference with significant consequences.
This week, I was personally confronted with a few stories of people leaving companies because of their managers.… Read the rest
Allow me to share a few quotes to kick off the conversation this week.
To set the tone here’s the first quote by Simon Sinek:
“100% of employees are people. 100% of customers are people. 100% of investors are people. If you don’t understand people, you don’t understand business.”
Simon Sinek
Makes sense, right?… Read the rest
Why it always boils down to trust
There are days I start writing, and twenty minutes later, my insight is nearly ready. I do a grammar check, then leave the text for a few days.
A few days later, I reread the text, make some corrections, and then schedule it for distribution to my readers.… Read the rest
I miss my Greek friends.
I thought about this when I was deliberating the content for my story about alignment, growth cue #6 in my playbook.
From 2011 until 2014, I worked in Bulgaria and was part of an international leadership team, including a few Greek colleagues.
When was the last time you made time to daydream a little and imagine something you would like to create?
What was it like to pause? How did it make you feel? What were you imagining?
Or perhaps, you didn’t do any of that and the last weeks (or maybe even months) went by in a blur.… Read the rest
