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
MY FRIEND JONAH DOESN’T like conference rooms. That’s why he’s held client meetings at Wegman’s. And Barnes and Noble. And a nearby donut shop. He meets with his staff at a local Texas Roadhouse they call by a code name: “Meeting Room T.” In fact, Jonah would rather meet anywhere than in a corporate conference room, and […]
[huge_it_share id=”1″]As a professional interviewer, I’ve learned a lot after 30 years on the job. In this post, I share 3 secrets for conducting job interviews that will help you learn essential information about candidates you’re interviewing. 1. Be prepared. Many interviewers make the mistake of “winging it” in an interview. Being unprepared as the interviewer […]
We’re fascinated by liars. Especially when they’re in leadership roles. And why read novels when news headlines provide more comedy and tragedy than the fiction section of Amazon? Is Patriots coach Bill Belichick a gridiron genius? Or a massive cheat? Those who hate him see the cheat, and those who love him can’t seem to get […]
Bill Belichick, Cognitive Dissonance, Don Tollefson, Lying
Remember the first time you fell in love? That person seemed like the smartest, funniest most attractive person in the world to you. And although that happened in a romantic context, it happens all the time in business, as well, when you allow initial very positive first impressions of an applicant to blind you to […]
