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Journal Archive

Learning

The WSJ Interview By-Product

it’s okay to be stretched. At this point, you’re on the edge. And, the edge is where you are forced to be creative. It’s where your decisions are sharper and more informed. You make calls because you have to, not because they are convenient. “We can’t do this right now because that is more important.” Being at the limit forces you to think about value and we think that’s a great place to be.
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Where to Look When Performance Breaks Down

When it comes to improving performance, most organizations’ problems can be traced to their inability to think and talk together at critical moments.
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The Dreaded F (ired) word

I’m on vacation today and a little reflective about life, and life lessons. I’ve been sitting here on the balcony of a hotel in Mill Valley thinking about the tangible and intangible dimensions of success. Success is relatively non-linear. Probably…
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Things I learned from Carol Bartz

I had a chance to work with Carol Bartz, CEO and now Chairman of Autodesk. She’s a dynamo and one of the best mentors I’ve ever had. I thank Augie for reminding me today on what I learned from Carol….
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Bouncing Back

I’d like to believe this feeling I’m having now is going to last. I’ve been given what feels like a second chance. For most of 2006, I’ve been sick at a low-grade enough level where I could continue to work…
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The dreaded but great List

I found this an interesting point of view. “List Consciousness is a state of mind that is entirely future-oriented. With a subtle but constant quality of rushing, it operates on the premise that life will happen once everything is crossed…
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Grow it .. bigger and wiser

If you were to purposely grow your smarts, you might: - Surround yourself with more creative people, or - Study more (content) ideas, or - Talk more at length debating with others, or - Get better educated, right? I’m going…
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Samurai vs. Senate

Co-dependent teams and / or big companies tend to be like the Roman Senate — taking time to consider, to debate, to weigh, and then to select amongst many choices. When there are more things / ideas / implications to consider, it takes time and is more focused on optimization. Doing it wrong could affect many poorly so better to wait and do it right.
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Even Steinways get out of tune

What’s the difference between an ethical leader and a business leader? Are they mutually exclusive, a subset of each other, or one and the same? This coming week, I’m speaking and facilitating a workshop, sponsored by the national Women in…
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Alpha Dog: Strategies for Entrepreneurs

This last week, I was on a much, much (MUCH!) needed solo vacation. No client, staff, or family responsibilities. No email, no phones, no computer. Instead, I packed the normal trashy magazines so I could read about shoes and frivolity….
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Lasso truth and clarity with good effective questions

Attractive, intelligent, strong, and an insightful persona. You might remember her. Throughout the 70’s, there was this superhero show called Wonder Woman. Her powers were derived from “Amazon concentration,” not as a gift from the parents or gods. Besides those…
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Adaptability & Change is a High Class Problem; 5 things to review

As a CEO of my own firm, and a change leader working with CMOs of world-class brands, the constant in my life is helping organizations to adapt to new situations and challenges. As Bryan Ward used to say, this is…
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Give em dignity or they’ll never hear you

Providing dignity while giving feedback matters.
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Metrics: The Long and the Short View

In business, metrics matter. It’s key to make sure you’re looking at things that indicate truth or at least a pattern of truth. I’ve been working for the last few weeks on a client Optimization project where we’re drawing…
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Be the non-anxious presence…

Leaders reveal their capability and their character when things go sideways. Edwin Friedman says that he best leaders are a “non-anxious presence in an anxious world.” While my day job can include client meetings, speeches, getting quoted by Business week,…
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