If you were trying to sell me a jacket based on the fact it’s a designer label, you wouldn’t make a sale. If you were trying to sell me a jacket based on the fact that it’s on sale, you probably wouldn’t make a sale. If you were trying to […]
Category: business
Hall Pass
In high school, due to my somewhat extensive extracurricular activity list and sports involvement, I was often walking around school during class with a hall pass. I would often see the hall monitors, with their sunglasses and walkie-talkies, patrolling the halls. And as your typical “stay-out-of-trouble-Valedictorian-club-president” type, I was always […]
When the Hype Fails
It’s great to promise an amazing work culture, filled with agency and care, sustainability and equality. However, if your culture doesn’t live up to the hype, you’ll begin to create anti-fans who are willing to put their reputations on the line to speak out against your toxicity. Note that if […]
Do You Like It?
When making decisions, in most business cases, whether or not you like something is not a good basis to make a decision from. The sad thing is that this is often exactly how we make decisions. What coffee do you buy for the office? Well I like tea and don’t […]
Questions of Value
“How much value does this have?” is a tricky question to answer, as you first have to answer a few other questions. To whom is evaluating it? Me? You? A person stranded in the desert? A billionaire environmentalist? Value is in the eye of the beholder and just because you […]
What Do They Value?
Do they value speed, price, or quality? (Remember, you only ever get two of the three.) Do they value fast results, or long-term growth? Do they value the work you do or your reputation? Do they value their team or their own career path? If you’re seeking to serve someone, […]
What Do You Value?
Do you value individual contributors, or collaboration? Do you value people fitting in, or people belonging? Do you value integrity, or “whatever it takes”? Do you value sustainability growth, or does only the short term matter? Do you value doing what’s right, or doing what’s right for you? Act accordingly.
“You’re Terrible”
When a leader is giving you negative feedback, and they start making it personal and/or start shouting, remember that it’s more about them than it is about you. The things that frustrate us most remind us of our own sore spots and weaknesses. While, yes, you probably should have double-checked […]
Authority, Freedom, Benefits, and Responsibility
Everyone wants the perks of being a leader. The respect, the authority, the freedom to “do what you want.” The performance bonuses, access to resources, the ability to hire and fire people. Not everyone is willing to take the responsibility for being a leader, though. Having to act in a […]
Unfriendly Competition
Competition is part of life. We compete for attention, compete for awards and records, and we compete for business. Yet so many people “compete” by using smear campaigns, sabotaging business transactions, and basically attacking their competitors instead of making their product better. This isn’t a recipe for success, it’s a […]