What it Means for a Leader to Take on "Extreme Ownership"
Photo: Jocko Willink (left) and Leif Babin (right) I've written before about "extreme ownership" and how passing the buck (i.e., blaming...
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- May 2
Good to Great to Gone
I was once part of a leadership development initiative (in 2019) that required partnering and collaborating with a third-party vendor,...
- Apr 9
Book Review: The Leadership Challenge, 7th Edition
In this book review of The Leadership Challenge (7th ed.) by James (Jim) Kouzes and Barry Posner, I'll compare the 7th edition (2023) to...
- Mar 7
Don't Get Hooked on "Fake Work"
“Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must...
- Dec 19, 2022
Don't Outsource Your Thinking
If there's one thing I've learned from attaining my Ph.D. it is this — don't outsource your thinking. As a society, we've become lazy,...
- Nov 18, 2022
Book Summary & Review: How to Be an Inclusive Leader (2nd ed.) by Jennifer Brown
SUMMARY Based on her many years of watching all types of individuals react to the issues surrounding diversity, equity, inclusion, and...
- Sep 22, 2022
Book Review: Show the Value of What You Do by Patricia P. Phillips and Jack J. Phillips
IMPORTANT: For this book summary, I'll be using and referencing other books by the author(s) to better provide context, examples, and...
- Aug 8, 2022
Defining Moments - Short, Memorable, and Meaningful Experiences
“Our lives are measured in moments, and defining moments are the ones that endure in our memories.” -Chip Heath & Dan Heath In The Power...
- Jun 2, 2022
How Steve Jobs Reframed The Competition To Rally The Troops
Photo: Screenshots of Apple 1984 Super Bowl TV Commercial I have been in companies that operated with an extremely competitive culture...
- Nov 5, 2020
Can video conferencing apps mimic or replace human-to-human connection?
I was contacted by a journalist writing a story about workplace communication, why human beings need human-to-human connection in the...
- Aug 3, 2020
To Engage and Retain Employees Provide a “Mini” Job Rotation During Employee Orientation
Have you noticed that, in many companies, employees often have no clue what many of the other employees in other functions do to support...
- Jul 1, 2020
What You Should Know About Leadership Development Training
I’ve spent more than a decade working in three related and intersecting fields: Training, Learning & Development, and Leadership...
- May 11, 2020
3 Reasons Physical Offices & Face-to-Face Meetings Are Not Going Away
The traditional, physical office is not going away any time soon despite advances in technology allowing people to work remotely, either...
- Mar 17, 2020
Overcoming Obstacles: Attitude and Approach Are Answers to Pains and Problems
“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”-William Shakespear In his book, The Obstacle Is the Way, Ryan Holiday...
- Nov 1, 2019
Pygmalion Effect – A Leader’s Attitude and Expectation Set the Tone
[Note: This post was updated April 2023 for freshness & clarity.] In the book, Extreme Ownership, Leif Babin (a U.S. Navy SEAL officer...
- Aug 25, 2019
How to Manage Better by Matching Leadership Style to Development Level
“Oversupervising or undersupervising—that is, giving people too much or too little direction—has a negative impact on people’s...
- Jun 26, 2019
Overplanning Is No Substitute For Getting Sh*t Done
Overplanning is defined as planning excessively or in more detail than is necessary. No Amount of Planning Can Ever Replace Just Getting...
- Dec 3, 2018
Layoffs (Usually) Don’t Work and Why They Harm More Than Help
“Layoffs are mostly bad for companies, harmful for the economy, and devastating for employees.” -Newsweek (2010) In December 2017, I...
- Sep 2, 2018
An “Action Bias” Can Be Counterproductive
In a Wall Street Journal article, Staats (2018) writes, “we have an action bias: We would rather be seen doing something than doing...
- Aug 15, 2018
Self-Actualization: Realizing Your Potential
“For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: ‘It might have been!’” -John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892) When I read...
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