One of my favorite quotes from Muhammad Ali is one of the ones least quoted. It goes like this: It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen. You may recall the Daily Affirmations skit from SNL. It’s a hilarious take on this …
By now you’ve likely seen all sorts of news about the Florida school shooting that took place last week. You’ve also likely seen a lot of “thought and prayers” responses and even a few debates on Facebook. But my favorite response has been young high school students who are taking action: There are four high …
Last month McKinsey&Company released a new report following up on their 2015 report: Delivering through diversity. What they found was interesting. Top-team ethnic and cultural diversity is correlated with profitability. Here is their finding: when you have diversity on your leadership teams, you perform better. Seems like common sense, right? More perspectives protects you from …
There are two kinds of supervisors in my book: the folks that like decisions to run thru them, and the folks that share everything, teach everything and push context down. The folks that lead by making all the final calls aren’t bad or wrong. They often feel like they have more experience, knowledge or context. …
First, let’s be clear about what we’re not talking about here. We’re not talking about manipulation. We’re not talking about inception. We’re not talking about reverse psychology, underselling, or any other strategies to get your way. What we’re talking about is the patience and iterative conversations that you’ll need to help unstick people who are …
Want to change someone’s mind? Use iterative conversations. CONTINUE READING
For years I’ve had a rule with my engineering teams. It goes like this – if you can’t figure something out (or can’t make any headway at all) in 45 minutes, ask for help. Of course, most people smile but think to themselves, “I got this. I don’t need to ask for help. I just …
Maybe you’ve heard the quote before: “Vision without execution is hallucination.” I’ve seen it attributed to Thomas Edison, but deeper digging suggests it might not be that old, and may instead be from Stephen Case (AOL). I heard it in a meeting today and remembered the first time I heard the quote. It came in …
We all think we’re working together to solve customer problems. Right? We want what’s best for them – and so we work on customer on-boarding, customer emails, the customer experience, customer UI/UX improvements and customer engagement initiatives. When you put us in a room, we’re all talking about the customer. But which customer? Who is …
In January I started learning how to box. I know, at 47, there’s no good reason to start learning something like boxing. But I enjoy the sport and I thought it would be more enjoyable to learn than running for exercise. I’m also a fan of continually putting yourself in a learning posture – it …
Not everyone is a troll. It’s not like everyone is trying to make you angry. But it happens. You read a response, or hear a comment on a conference call – and it makes you furious. It’s easy to react. Easy to respond quickly in a defensive posture. And even if you’re calm, it’s easy …