One of my favorite leadership experiments happened when I was a band teacher. If you know my origin story, you know there was a time when I was a very negative leader. Part of the turn-around in the late 1990’s … Read More
Ricardo was the president of the Band Parents for a time while I was a band director. He ran pretty good meetings. His corporate background and command of deliverables worked very well, especially when another officer, Don, ran off at … Read More
Recently, Sarah Noll Wilson asked me to be a guest on her Manager Minute or Two! series. I have a great appreciation for Sarah, so of course I couldn’t pass this up. And what better topic to cover than— BSaAFWYW. … Read More
I heard Tim Kight speak at the Iowa SHRM conference, and he had an elegant way of boiling down the role our choices make in determining outcomes. Event + response = outcome Essentially, if we don’t have influence over events, … Read More
This is a question I’ve tried to handle more than once, but I have a big disclaimer: I don’t hold HR certifications, and I can’t give legal advice. But I can share some thoughts that have been helpful to others. … Read More
A recent question: “How do you tolerate intolerable situations or people?” One of the toughest choices at work is to figure out which issues are worth addressing and which to simply live with. There is no black and white solution … Read More
One of my favorite speakers is Pat Lencioni. I love him as an author, but he’s an even better speaker. Something I don’t think he’s written, but that I’ve heard him say a few times, are these inspiring words, which … Read More
Recently, I had the chance to hear legendary football coach Lou Holtz deliver a keynote address. He’s best known for turning around the Notre Dame football program, and one of my favorite factoids about that process is that he removed … Read More
I heard Suzanne Lemen, the principal of Dynamic Corporate Solutions Incorporated, speak at the HR Florida conference in August 2018, and she had some good thoughts on managing up. I’ll present them in bullet points, but they seem to fit … Read More
Recently, I chaperoned a large group trip for a bunch of teenagers—over 300 of them. I had to keep track of about 35 of them myself, and punctuality was the most pressing issue of the trip. If any one person … Read More