Climb Higher, Shine Brighter
Latest Blog Posts
Revenue’s up? Revenue’s down? If you think it’s just sales, think again…
Words matter. I work with a company where people say that all of the time. They're right. Mostly. What matters even more is the meaning we give to certain words. There are certain words that, while innocuous enough on the surface, have become twisted or shrunken or...
Two very different exits
It's said that leadership is influence. While true, I also believe that how a leader influences matters over the long haul. Here's a recent example. Over the holidays, you probably noticed the exits of two very different leaders from the world stage: Kim Jong-il and...
The Real Gift – What we can learn from top-notch non-profits
An old saying goes, "If you want to know what's important to someone, take a look at their checkbook." I'm not sure the saying goes far enough. Take the year-end fund-raising season. These days, many non-profits come looking of money, flooding our mailboxes, emails,...
The Half-Built Bridge
"I hate half-built bridges!" It was a side comment from the CEO of a hot start-up as we walked through his offices. He used the phrase to refer to unfinished projects and projects where half-way through, you might wonder, "Where were we going with this again?" And...
If Reprise
I first posted this during Thanksgiving week a year ago. It immediately became the most read post I've ever written. So I share it again this year... All the best this Thanksgiving! If you slept in a warm bed last night... give thanks. If you were blessed with a...
One foot on the gas and one on the brake
Several weeks ago, a Russian passenger plane crashed, tragically killing all but one of the passengers and crew. Thanks to the "black box" technology, we're able to dissect accidents like this one much more analytically than we can examine most mistakes. The crash...
How to blow up a relationship
Want to blow up a business relationship? Try this on for size (trust me, you've seen this pattern): Take a colleague's email, comment, or behavior out of context. Assume the worst. Write an accusatory, abrasive email back to them. Include things you'd never say to...
The Symbolic Act
Why would someone shave off a perfectly beautiful head of hair? If you read this blog, I'm guessing you want to make a difference - in your company, in your team, for your customers, or in your community. You probably believe what I do: that making a difference comes...
Fear’s Casualty
In a recent post, I wrote about the downsides of using fear (or greed) to fuel your organization. I still think a hunger for great things trumps fear (almost) every day. But another reason recently came to mind. A while back, I was working with a leader in a really...
Why the Why’s Matter
A lot of people think that the leader's job is to make tough strategic decisions and then to communicate them out to the organization. That's true, but if we stop with the "what" part of that message, we might just come up short. Here's an example: Anyone riding...
Where Innovation Happens
Innovation is the life-blood of any organization. All patterns of success grow stale and eventually fade. Then, the new must emerge. When most of us think of innovation, we think it happens in predictable, sterile environments - labs, board rooms, or maybe in the...
Fuel
There's an old saying in business: the two great motivators are fear and greed. They may be common motivators, but I'd argue that they're decidedly not great. Here's why: If you motivate people with fear, they certainly have a sense of urgency. The cataclysmic...