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Learn more about Thought Leader Charles Nelles who explains the Governance Puppy Circle in this leadership alert. I’ve often wondered why governance, deemed so important, is often so neglected. For insight, I turned to Charles Nelles, an enterprise ninja in IT Operations and Service Management leading high profile projects for two decades. Charles, why does governance seem Read more about The Governance Puppy Circle[…]
Graduating High School or College is an accomplishment. It’s also a time for celebration and quite possibly a frightening transition for students. Long after the commencement speeches are forgotten, the reality of reality imposes new obstacles to overcome. Why is initiative the perfect graduation gift? Because it keeps giving long after graduation and in unexpected Read more about Initiative – The Perfect Graduation Gift[…]
The English poet and painter William Blake felt that conceit and cowardice masqueraded as modesty. Author Brenda Ueland in “If You Want to Write” put a point on Blake’s observation with: It is just fear of acting and making mistakes. It is a refusal to follow one’s vision. It is a wish to get everybody’s approval by Read more about Be Rare Instead.[…]
After reading Brad Feld’s The Reputational Damage of Non-Responsiveness and the comments, I think there might be something missing in the projections of motive onto the offenders. Can we agree that most people are bad managers of their time and also are blind to their own limitations like being bad time managers, being rude and Read more about Radio Silence? Try Harder.[…]
Often, during coaching engagements, I encounter heavy resistance to applying fundamentals. So many organizations and individuals seek an easy button rather than understanding the simple but powerful concept of applying fundamentals to complicated problems. One of the basic fundamentals is the effect of clear consequences combined with immovable deadlines. Nothing concentrates the mind like a Read more about Nothing Concentrates The Mind Like A Hanging At Dawn[…]
Is your constant lack of eye contact sabotaging your career and relationships? While most readers will nod in agreement that undivided attention is a rare courtesy afforded to their peers, staff, and friends, they’ll nod while reading an e-mail or returning a text on their mobile phone. For most, it’s unlikely they’ll change this behavior even if Read more about Does Your Smartphone Make You Look Dumb?[…]
Early in my career, I had the privilege of shadowing busy executives across several lines of business. A common successful skill they shared was understanding how to inspire great work through others. New managers and aspiring executives rarely embrace leveraging others for greatness. They’re necessarily focused on tactical results, personal goals, or balance sheets. They Read more about Inspire Great Work Through Others![…]
Imagine you are building a house with the only tool you know how to use – a rock and nothing else. Now, suppose your neighbor builds his house with a full selection of modern tools. Can you predict which house is built best? Consensus decision-making is the old rock of available techniques. It’s the one Read more about Consensus Can Doom Decisions[…]
Are you frustrated with cumbersome decision-making? In the game of professional basketball, a turnover results when a team fails to take a shot within the 24 seconds allowed. This built-in urgency is often missing from today’s leaders who fail to see the consequences of their unwieldy and elongated decision-making. A leader, like a coach, needs Read more about Shot Clock Violations Kill Urgency[…]
Consider that for all of your hard work, you have blind spots in your self-awareness. Blind spots that are readily seen and exploited by others. Most leaders pride themselves on reacting to a crisis but seem less prepared to prevent it. Part of this cycle is that organizations reward the fire fighter problem solver. It’s Read more about Blind to Your Limitations?[…]