You know when things aren’t working but you can’t figure out why? Here are the signs which give me the “uh-on” moments:
The team avoids spending time together and minimizes contact. Silence despite disagreement. Disengagement in meeting. Closed door conversations that turn into venting sessions about someone. People playing politics.
Lots of definitions about what culture is in a company. Here’s a definition from Investopedia:
Corporate culture refers to the beliefs and behaviors that determine how a company’s employees and management interact and handle outside business transactions. Often, corporate culture is implied, not expressly defined, and develops organically over time from the cumulative traits of the people the company hires.
Not bad. But I have an even easier definition. Continue reading
I was talking to someone who said something really insightful to me. She said “he’s got a great short game, but no long game.” Wow. I understood exactly what she meant.
I finally realized something late in my career: as you get more senior, influential, and are listened to….
You have power.
That concept was uncomfortable for me. It seemed presumptuous, egotistical. But, here’s what power can mean: the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events.
You don’t need to be the most senior person in the organization to have power. You can have power at any level. So how do you use it? Continue reading
I am fond of the sports analogy. This is one I like to use.
A lot of times I find that when people plan, they tend to look ahead only a few steps. Once you get there, you plan again, and everyone goes off with the new set of marching orders. Continue reading
Someone I mentor send out an SOS email….”I really need to talk to you.” She had been increasingly frustrated with her boss, and had talked to someone about it. Unfortunately, that person was pretty senior, so the next step was to escalate to HR. Now what?
I’ve tried lists. They don’t work for me. I need to keep things simple. So here’s my NYR…and I don’t plan on changing it. Continue reading
As you progress in your career, and master certain key skills…what you need to be successful in the future changes. Yes, you’ll always have your attention to detail, problem solving and analytical skills….but you won’t find yourself using those in the same capacity as you become responsible for other people, head up departments, divisions. So what have I found to be helpful that no one tells you?
So for those of you who have seen my lessons learned list, you know that this is my number one lesson learned. Because it doesn’t matter what else you do, if you don’t get this right…you’re going to run into problems. So why do so many people get this one wrong? Continue reading
A great interview with Bill Gates and the current CEO Satya Nadella of Microsoft in the WSJ Magazine. I’ve been impressed with him for awhile now….the way he handled a big fail on his team caught my attention that this was no ordinary leader. Continue reading