When the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber. – Winston Churchill A story is told about a man who went to the doctor to get the results of his test. The doctor sat him down and told him, “I have some very bad news for you. I’m afraid that you are afflicted with…
DetailsThe BBC’s Katty Kay and ABC’s Claire Shipman co-authored a book a couple of years back called Womenomics. In it they cite, among other things, a number of companies where the presence of women in among top leadership had a positive effect on the firm’s financial success. For example: Accounting firm Ernst & Young’s research…
DetailsThanksgiving is when one species ceases to gobble and another begins.– -R.E. Marion A story is told of two men who were walking through a field one day when they spotted an enraged bull. Instantly they darted toward the nearest fence. The storming bull followed in hot pursuit, and it was soon apparent that…
DetailsThere isn’t much news lately about the NBA, other than the whole lockout fiasco and I don’t feel like getting into that mess. However, I happened to read that Shaquille O’Neal is about to release his autobiography, and news outlets are buzzing about the fact that in the book Shaq revisits his feud with former…
DetailsI can live for two months on a good compliment – Mark Twain A story is told how one day the great Italian artist Michelangelo happened to overhear a group of people admiring his Pieta, a statue of Christ on His mother’s kneeafter His death on the cross. One man attributed the work to another…
DetailsWhen I was a child, I was often awakened by rumblings in the back of the house while the sun was still down. Occasionally, I would brave the cold air in my Incredible Hulk underwear to see my father suiting up for work. He was up early, home late and always in a suit. I…
DetailsEdgar Schein, a titan of the field of organizational development, says in his recent book, Helping, that there are four questions on the minds of new members of any team. While these concerns operate at a subconscious level, nevertheless, any team member must become comfortable with the answers before he or she can relax and…
DetailsThe real test of a man is not when he plays the role that he wants for himself but when he plays the role destiny has for him. – V´aclav Havel For movie buffs, it is one of the most memorable scenes in movie lore. James Callahan, the lead character in Dirty Harry portrayed by Clint Eastwood,…
DetailsYou may remember the quote from Cool Hand Luke, “some men you just can’t reach”. Being a person of true faith in human connections, this disposition made me feel hopeless. Until I started managing people….. There are people who fit into the category of “uncoachable”. Usually these folks isolate themselves into obscurity and are ushered…
DetailsSome of the organizations I work with are facing an interesting paradox: On the one hand the culture/satisfaction survey results aren’t where management would like to see them. On the other hand, the feedback I’m receiving says that employees care deeply about the organization and its success. How can these two seemingly opposite data points…
DetailsThe most frequently cited quality of exceptional leaders is authenticity/integrity. With the best leaders, what you see is what you get, they walk their talk, and so forth. But situations arise that call upon the leader to fake it. They have to become an actor. They have to temporarily take on a persona different from…
DetailsIn a perfect world, leaders take the blame, but share the credit. Too bad the world is far from perfect. Oftentimes leaders take more than their fair share of credit, but hardly any blame. Why is that? Do leaders think they are invisible to blame but are always responsible for a company’s success? Listen, just…
DetailsIt’s not easy being green. – Kermit the Frog In the book, The 101 Most Influential People who Never Lived, authors Allan Lazar, Dan Karlan, and Jeremy Salter expose readers to a litany of fascinating characters who never existed. From fiction, myth, television, and movies, they reveal how these characters shaped our society, changed our…
DetailsMuch has been made of the post game spat between two football a few weeks back. Jim Schwartz felt disrespected because Jim Harbaugh shook his hand with too much force after the game. I am from Michigan and I hate the 49ers, so it would be my natural inclination to side with Coach Schwartz –…
DetailsAssume the Next Message You Send Will Be Misunderstood There are over 600 or more words in the English language with 10 or more meanings. In addition, our body language and tone of voice can also be percieved in many ways. To make sure that people don’t misundertand us and they walk away with the…
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