I have a confession to make … I’m forgetful. Incredibly forgetful, in fact, and it’s a real problem for me. Still, the people I work with are astounded that nothing ever falls between the cracks. It’s my task list that’s doing the heavy lifting though, and I’m almost religious about it. My whole day is …
Let me tell you a secret about a simple mechanism that the U.S. Marine Corps employs to decentralize decision making. The brilliance of it is in its simplicity, and I do believe it’s mostly a secret. Only once in all my years have I run across anyone who has described what I’m about to describe …
How the Marine Corps Decentralizes Decision Making Read More »
Frequent readers of my blog know that I’m a U.S. Marine Corps veteran. My ten years as a Marine were some of the most formative years of my life, and every today I still rely on what the Corps taught me about a bias toward progress. Marines aren’t known for their nuance, but we know …
I was catching up with Chris Murman* and from nowhere he said something that’s stuck with me. He said this more kindly than I’m summing up here, but this is what I took away: Change fatigue is what someone says when they don’t want to do something. It caught me off guard, and the more …
I’m a career, life, and executive coach, and I was recently laid off. It was a shock to say the least, but it wasn’t near as soul crushing as I would have expected. Let me tell you how I’ve decided to approach my circumstance. Maybe there’s something here that’ll help you too. Before we start …
Being Laid Off, Bruised Egos, and How To Recover Read More »
When I first meet with clients, we talk about the difference between mentoring and coaching. These two spaces share a lot in common so they’re easily conflated, and I’ve shared previously my pithy way of approaching the topic: Mentors answer questions. Coaches question answers. Even after we had talked it through, clients would struggle. I …
I almost didn’t publish this post since it felt derivative. People much smarter than I have covered this topic in greater depth and elegance than I ever could. Lyssa Adkins comes to mind. Nonetheless, I think André Gide sums up why we’re here: Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since …
Transactional leadership makes me cringe. Transactional leaders focus on title and hierarchy. They search for and crave prestige and authority. It all feels so political, and it’s a real problem for me. You manage things. You lead people. Grace Hopper Maybe it’s quotes like this that began my rub. Or maybe it’s my preference for …
People often talk about the value of a bias toward action. I know I did, but I believe I was mistaken. Why? No one thinks they lack a bias toward action. After all, busyness and productivity are hard to tell apart. For example, I remember a younger me who didn’t have GPS. When I was …
I can’t tell you how many times I heard LinkedIn’s former CEO Jeff Weiner echo these words. Trust is consistency over time. There’s no shortcut for either. It’s great advice whether we’re an aspiring or experienced leader. And I think it’s just as appropriate for coaches. Why? We don’t have this pesky thing called authority, …
