Recently a friend and colleague said, “I’ve finally gotten to the point in my life where I don’t give my time away to just anyone for just anything.” The person who said that is not a greedy person; he is … Read More
“If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” If you are alive, someone has probably said this to you, and if you have kids or have worked with kids, it is probable that you have … Read More
The Tokyo Olympics is in full swing, and I am loving every second of it. Of course, the big news of this year’s games has been U.S. gymnast Simone Biles. Most people expected her to make history in Tokyo by … Read More
Note from Alan: One of my best friends, Matt Pries, is a wise man and a great writer. I’ve asked him to share some of his thoughts about leadership. Matt is Iowa’s 2021 Coach of the Year, and many of … Read More
I get into trouble sometimes. As a presenter, I see this comment once in a while on evaluations: “He didn’t follow the handout.” My response to patterns of critical comments on evaluations is to generally take them to heart and … Read More
I used to have a slide in my leadership presentations which read: The clear path to greatness: Deliver (both what’s expected of you, and what you’ve promised) Be your own source of accountability I even wrote a blog post about … Read More
Because I’m a big proponent of The Ideal Team Player, with humility chief among its virtues, I worry people might think the concept of projecting confidence flies in the face of being humble. The opposite is true, however. Humility and … Read More
We talk a lot about creating environments where innovation and creative problem-solving can happen. This involves risk. We’re supposed to never punish mistakes; instead, we are to learn from them. However, this can be idealistic. There are times when the … Read More
I once thought I was reassuring my employer’s one tech person when I told her, “I’m pretty savvy, so I installed my own printer driver updates. You can skip my computer.” To my surprise, she responded, “Okay this time, but … Read More
One eye-opening—and painful!—part of Multipliers detailed the fine line between the Liberator and the Tyrant. Early in my career, I fancied myself a Liberator. But I was quite wrong. Well-meaning leaders can become Tyrants by creating a tense environment, which … Read More