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Turning Potential Into Results
Ostrich-ize your Leadership
When someone’s ignoring what we think they ought to pay attention to, we chastise them with: “Don’t be an ostrich and stick your head in the sand!” Well, add one more thing to the list of the stuff we believe that isn’t true. This past summer, I visited the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch outside Red…
Read MoreSchool’s Always In for Leaders
It’s Fall. School’s back in session. I’m taking an online class in strategic planning. Ordered my used books from half.com and downloaded my ebooks. (I’ll see if I can resist printing them.) With pencil and highlighter in hand, I opened HBReview’s “On Strategy” to read my first assignment. When I got to page 5, yellow…
Read More2 Degrees of Separation (Subtitle: Be careful what you resell.)
Kevin started it. Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon is a parlor game based on the “six degrees of separation” concept which posits that any two people on Earth are six or fewer acquaintance links apart. Today, with connectivity being what it is, I think we’re down to two. On my “get-better-at” list, I have…
Read MoreGrowing Grass(roots) at the Kitchen Table
“I started at 5 years old at the kitchen table with my family supporting me. I know where I’m from and I know exactly where I’m going.” Celine Dion Growing up in Bath, Ohio, our kitchen table in our 100+ year-old house had hinges so it could be lifted and tucked into the…
Read MoreCan you hear yourself now?
Time for a hearing test. No, not the kind that someone else wants you to get because they think you need hearing aids; this is a more of a “listening” test that can help you be more effective, more confident. This test is not age-related; it’s performance-related. “It’s not what you say, it’s what people…
Read MoreWhat’s your word for 2014?
I have a collection of dictionaries and I’ve been known to read them. (No, not all the way through! Not all at once, anyway.) Nuances, subtleties, double ententres, etymology, layers of meaning – they all get my juices flowing. (Balderdash, anyone?) I write poetry, dabble in Haikus and blog. I snap pictures of bumper stickers…
Read MoreFriction: Love the Rub
Do these sound familiar? Don’t rock the boat! Don’t upset the apple cart! Don’t rub people the wrong way! All good advice that maintains the status quo and avoids friction. When we follow it blindly, we tip-toe around issues, sugar-coat facts, excuse inappropriate behavior. (Oh, joy!) Friction is not the enemy All good advice except…
Read MoreNeeded: (Kind) Back Seat Drivers
Two weeks ago, I was tired (more like, fried) from a 12-hour international flight, returning from a dream vacation sailing in the Mediterranean. We climbed into a taxi and headed out of SFO. I gave the driver the address where we parked our car in San Carlos. On the ramp, heading south on 101, the…
Read MoreBeen nudged lately?
I got a D in English when I was a sophomore in high school. I don’t remember who my teacher was or if I liked him or her. I don’t remember who I sat next to in class. I don’t remember being yelled at by mom or dad; it’s likely they expressed their deep, deep…
Read MoreWhat's in your compass?
Hear any of these lately? We value integrity. People before profits. Teamwork. Responsibility. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Zero waste. Value diversity. Think Global, Act Local. These are samples of guiding principles which, whether spoken out loud or not, influence behavior. Guiding principles exist at many levels – individual,…
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