You may think that being a boss is only one job, but it’s really two. One is to accomplish the mission through the team. That’s the one most people are aware of. The other job is less recognized, but it’s important to your short term and long-term success. Your job is to help your team members succeed  »  Read More

When bad stuff happens, remember the story of the two boys whom researchers placed in a room full of horse manure. One became depressed and inert. The other began exuberantly working his way through the manure, laughing and shrieking: “There’s got to be a pony in here somewhere!” When bad stuff happens to  »  Read More

I named Peak Performance as one of the top books I read in 2018. Steve Magness co-authored that book, so I expected any book he produced to be high quality. That’s one reason that I bought Do Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of Real Toughness. The title intrigued me  »  Read More

Back when we bought most of our business books in stores, that’s where a lot of us would be on Saturday morning, taking the time to look through books that interested us, to see if we wanted to buy them. Today, you can do the same thing without leaving home. Preview books on Amazon or Barnes and Noble by looking  »  Read More

Leaders are readers. Reading helps you discover ideas to try and expand your mental models. In this post, I point you to reviews of recent business books. You’ll find pointers to reviews of The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative, How to Think Like Leonardo da  »  Read More

Time off isn’t as restful if you’re constantly checking business messages and email or working on that “important” report. Get the most out of your time off by unplugging from business. When you get back to business, you’ll be more refreshed and rested and effective. This is only one of 347  »  Read More

It’s easy to slip into the belief that because you’re the boss, you’re the one who should be right all the time. Thinking that way can turn problem-solving conversations into contests where you strive to come out on top. Don’t do that. Gather opinions and data from everyone, discuss the options  »  Read More

When I was a teenager, one of the things I most wanted to do was paw through the Playboy magazines that my father kept under lock and key in his study. Dad said he had the magazines for the articles. I was interested in the pictures. Dad made me a deal. He would give me free run of his Playboys on one condition. I had  »  Read More

Too many bosses want to have all the answers. Don’t be that kind of boss. Try asking questions Ask questions to find out more about the problem. Ask questions to make sure you know what the other person wants. Ask questions to learn more about your team members, Ask questions to demonstrate that you don’t know  »  Read More