While governments have been criticized for the slow pace of vaccinations (with some even having to trash precious doses), Israel’s approach is practical and offers a good reminder to business leaders. Israel’s central health system has a priority system and appointments for its most at-risk citizens. AND has empowered each [...]
Be 30% more productive by being more positive. This reminder came from former NHL hockey star and current leadership expert Ryan Walter who recently addressed a CEO group I run. He referenced research that shows that employees who are happy (versus being negative, stressed, or even neutral) are 31% more [...]
Over the past two weeks I have learned a lot of things, including: Several start-ups have formed to commercialize private networks of satellites that are cheap to make and deploy. Some of the satellites are as small as a grilled cheese sandwich. A new streaming service (backed by ex-Disney executives) [...]
Japan has the tradition of a deep “Spring cleaning” that occurs at the beginning of the New Year. During that time, they clean everything in the house. Every nook and cranny of a typical house is scrubbed, dusted, and refreshed. (Marie Kondo is famous in the US, but she is [...]
People do not perfectly fit into grand plans or simple categories. While roads are designed with the idea of cars moving efficiently like water through pipes, human nature (like being self-centered, angered at getting cut off, or being impatient) still results in road rage and wrecks. Stock markets are often [...]
Can you see and hear the creativity in your organization? Like the eternal question about trees falling in the woods, is your organization really innovative if nobody around is listening to the good ideas being generated? If leadership is not organized to listen and act on innovation from within their [...]
Conditions aren’t as important as the preparations to handle the conditions. In Alaska, we took an excursion in a small boat with 6 other passengers to see a remote island and all the sea animals one hopes to see in Alaska. The outfitter had us put on bulky “dry suits” [...]
Our dog has a giant mastiff for a friend. When they meet on walks, my dog, who is about one tenth the size of her friend, will often scratch and kick up grass behind her. She only does this around her big friend. I am told the action is an [...]
High quality mechanical watches have industrial grade rubies fixed in critical parts of the movement. These “jewels” prevent wear of critical parts and provide stability and structure to maintain precision dependability over time. High quality watches may have as many as 21 of these tiny jewels integrated into their design. [...]
Trust is like rocket fuel for the effectiveness of an executive team. Also like rocket fuel, trust can easily evaporate. Smart executive teams take steps to build trust and also take steps to preserve it. With trust, the team can go far and fast. Without it, they risk being spectators [...]
Our dog was recently and suddenly sick. She got treatment and is better now, but for a panicked moment, I wondered if she might have COVID. (Yes it was a crazy fear, but in my defense, I don’t think I am the only pet owner to suffer from crazy fears [...]
I was on a zoom call recently as an invited panelist to speak on innovation and leadership in conjunction with an event called Africa Tech Week. Participants attended from all over Africa including Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. In the course of the discussion, it came out that it was [...]
This week is the traditional time to encourage people to be thankful. I will not break with that tradition, except to encourage you to be thankful about something that may often go underappreciated by you—yourself. What I am talking about is self-worth. Self-worth is having unconditional positive regard for ourselves. [...]
Once, on our way to Thanksgiving at my aunt’s house, I decided to take a detour and see an old mining town. Crown King was only 20 miles off the interstate, but I did not factor in that we would only go about 20 miles per hour on the gravel [...]
Our neighbor has a new puppy of some giant breed. It is full of exuberance and it already HUGE. To get some control, a dog trainer taught my neighbor to get the puppy’s attention with a treat held near her face. The treat and the command “watch me” refocuses the [...]
While the US works through the political process of sorting out the electoral votes to win, take a moment and think about yourself. As a leader what is YOUR path to win? Better mastery of your time? A highly functioning executive team? A new strategic direction given dramatic changes in [...]
While many things are uncertain, many things are predictable. The economy will rebound, and many activities (even cruises) will return at some point. Alabama will be dominant this football season and my wife’s infatuation with Coach Saban will continue. Lots of Halloween candy (particularly chocolate, in my case) bought too [...]
A friend of ours is a flight attendant and she’s bored. She’s not bored because she is at home, she’s bored because of how her job has changed. She says her work today is just giving flight instructions. She doesn’t like the fact that she doesn’t get to interact with [...]
The iconic picture of marines hoisting the flag at Iwo Jima (and the WW2 memorial that it inspired) might lead one to think that it captured the scene of the final victory there. It doesn’t. Putting a flag on top of Mt. Suribachi marked a significant achievement on the way [...]
As Keith Ferrazzi shared with a group of fellow MacKay CEO Forum Chairs recently, working with teams is one of the fastest ways to improve the trajectory of an organization. His great example is that no pro sports team on the planet works solely on developing individual skills. The team [...]
This past week brought the sad news about Eddie Van Halen passing away from cancer. Van Halen provided a soundtrack for the teenage years of millions of people around the world. The band was one of the most successful rock bands in history. Eddie is also reminder is that a [...]
Do you want to really thrive and the absolutely best leader you can be? Stack the odds in your favor with layers of supportive success systems. The human body has multiple layers of systems in place to keep the body in peak condition. White blood cells protect against microscopic invaders [...]
Innovation Insights is a daily post on LinkedIn to help leaders strengthen those all-important innovation muscles over a period of 30 days. Below is a summary from the week. Are you seeing the signs? Nationally, across the US employment numbers are starting to improve. There is news about consistent progress [...]
While we wear masks in an effort to contribute to the over-all health of our communities, the experience can feel stifling and uncomfortable. It can give us a new appreciation for a free flow of oxygen. Pre-pandemic, many organizations were operating in an environment with the ample “oxygen” of easy [...]
Innovation Insights is a daily post on LinkedIn to help leaders strengthen those all-important innovation muscles over a period of 30 days. Below is a summary from week 5. Innovation or Inertia? Do you have a culture of innovation or a culture of inertia? Cultures of innovation is what everyone [...]
Below are some ideas I have heard recently that I thought may of interest. Some of the ideas are big. Some of the ideas are small. All are being used by real leaders just like you. Take a walk with your direct reports. This leader drives to meet his employees [...]
I am addicted to the “Bad Dad Joke” contests popular on Youtube*. In these, people take turns telling jokes only a dad could love while trying to keep a straight face. Humor (even that of the corny dad joke variety) is a great distraction and a vital contributor to our [...]
Innovation Insights is a daily post on LinkedIn to help leaders strengthen those all-important innovation muscles over a period of 30 days. Below is a summary from week 4. Watch your language… Leaders need to watch their language.... For example, is your leader language focused on making cost cuts or [...]
Innovation Insights is a daily post on LinkedIn to help leaders strengthen those all-important innovation muscles over the next 30 days. Below is a summary from week 3. The ABCs of Innovation. Confused about “innovation?” Many leaders are and it is not their fault. Innovation is the word [...]
I was struck by some thinking that was presented in a webinar hosted recently by my colleague, Nancy MacKay, and thought I would share it with you. Her topic was LOVE (yes, love) and how is can be a game-changer in our businesses. I was a little skeptical, but now…well, [...]
Innovation Insights is a daily post on LinkedIn to help leaders strengthen those all-important innovation muscles over the next 30 days. Below is a summary from week 2. Innovation is natural, but not common. Positive processes like entrepreneurship, collaboration, and innovation are natural, but not automatic. People generally have an [...]
Innovation Insights is a daily post on LinkedIn to help leaders strengthen those all-important innovation muscles over the next 30 days. Below is a summary from week 1. Post-it Power. Imagine harnessing the power of all the great ideas that you jot down on a post-it note or scribble in [...]
Those of you who have worked with me will likely be familiar with Tim Gallwey’s performance formula. His simple, but insightful formula is that our performance equals our potential minus our interferences. It basically means we all have potential, but that might show up, but ONLY if we manage things [...]
When I was a kid, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups was selling their candy by highlighting that two good tastes were even better together. Anyone else remember those old TV ads? Two people would bump into each other, then one would say “you got your peanut butter on my chocolate” while [...]
In a recent workshop, a senior leader remarked that he had never considered half-baked ideas to be very valuable. He previously thought that ideas needed to be fully formed before they could see the light of day. The fact is that many valuable ideas don’t look like much when they [...]
A key ingredient to get high value things done is the belief that it actually matters. And nothing turns up the heat like a shared sense of urgency. REAL urgency can be a savvy leader’s superpower, but it CAN be frittered away. Keep these four points in mind to make [...]
Visibility about what to support is one of the biggest obstacles leaders have when making tough decisions today. Line item expense numbers are easy to see---and easy to cut. What’s hard to see are the initiatives to feed…and that’s another good reason to have an innovation management platform. Otherwise: baby [...]
The Boys in the Boat is the story of a collegiate rowing crew from the University of Washington and their pursuit of Olympic gold in the 1936 Olympics, hosted by Hilter’s Germany. While the entire story is epic, one aspect that stands out for me is the optimistic and persistent [...]
Some days we might wish we could just wake up and all the uncertainty caused by Covid-19 would be over. Unfortunately, that’s a luxury few of us can afford. There are some tough challenges to handle in the short-term. But let’s not forget that there is a lot of good [...]
By any standard, we are in very uncertain times. The world is coping with the health aspects of a pandemic as well as from the related economic fallout. If that were not enough, we are in the middle of an election cycle with elements from either extreme acting like children. [...]