One of the most important things I do is writing regular notes about major projects, my practice, my personal life, and more. Journaling – and I write mine longhand and using a manual typewriter – is something I’ve been doing since childhood. And it’s not the act of going back through them that I find […]
Journal, Leadership Development, Writing
If your sales director walked into your office right now and resigned which would you have: a heart attack OR a plan? Employee turnover is a fact of business life, yet many leaders find themselves blindsided when key employees announce that they’re leaving. Whether you have two employees or two thousand, creating a succession plan […]
Employee Turnover, Planning, Succession, Turnover
People are often promoted into leadership roles because they have said “yes” to new opportunities and challenges throughout their careers. If that describes you, it can create the expectation among higher-level supervisors that you will always say “yes.” But one of the realities of a leadership role may be that you cannot say “yes” to […]
leadership, leadership skills, saying no, Self-Awareness
A recent article by Matthew Leising and Annie Massa in Bloomberg Businessweek, “Why Citadel’s Ken Griffin Can’t Keep His Star Hires,” tells of a big hire that didn’t last long. In July 2016, according to the article, Griffin hired Kevin Turner as the first Chief Executive Officer of an operation called Citadel Securities. According to the article, […]
firing, hiring, leadership
Years ago, my choice of which college to attend seemed like a great decision. Until a few days into the first semester of freshman year. That’s when I started to hate the place. That’s also when deciding whether or not to stay seemed pretty big. My father, a master at decision-making, offered this advice: “Imagine you decided to transfer, then […]
decision-making, leadership
It was a great pleasure to be featured on episode 4 of the Bomenclature podcast for Bo’s May 11 broadcast! Bo is the Assistant Director for athletic facilities at Penn, a tremendous and innovative performance trainer, and a longtime friend. His Bomenclature podcast has listeners all over the world, because he searches out powerful examples […]
fitness, goal setting, leadership, optimism, overcoming obstacles, success secrets
In many companies, “delegating” is a code for deciding who should do the stuff you don’t like doing. The reality is that delegating is a critical leadership tool that radically increases engagement, development and performance. To get those benefits, though, you may have to re-think delegation from a top-down process where the leader decides what the direct […]
delegation
[huge_it_share] One of my favorite quotes is attributed to Benjamin Franklin: “Three people can keep a secret, if two of them are dead.” Kinda boils it all down, doesn’t it? Stephen M. R. Covey’s excellent book The Speed of Trust makes a brilliant case that trust helps businesses move faster. To take advantage of the speed […]
[huge_it_share] The other day I went to a client’s offices over lunch to present a seminar. I dressed the way I usually do for a seminar: Suit. Tie. Briefcase. Their offices are in a big building in downtown Philadelphia. Lots of people coming and going. As I walked down the hallway toward the seminar room, someone rushed into the hallway, looked straight at […]
[huge_it_share] I’m not nosy by nature, but sometimes I can’t help overhearing an interesting conversation. I often hear the best stuff in restaurants. Think you can’t learn a few things while having a corned beef special? Think again. Here’s one in a series of “confessions of a restaurant eavesdropper.” The other day, I was at a local […]
constructive feedback, difficult conversations, meeting in restaurants