It’s simply amazing. No matter what unpleasant fact or revelation comes up, the standard government official’s response seems to be: “I didn’t know.” Either our political leaders are memory-impaired or they work in a culture where no one brings them the truth. Guess what? That excuse may work » Read More
Tag: Communication
Think
Thomas J. Watson, Sr. knew a thing or two. He started admonishing his staff to “think” while he was still at NCR. Later “Think” was trademarked by IBM and became the company’s official slogan. Watson knew that we all do too many things without thinking or without thinking about the possible » Read More
The First Law of Leftovers
When I was a boy we didn’t have a lot of money. We ate well, but there was a lot of tuna-noodle casserole and a lot of leftovers. Actually, other people ate “leftovers” and it was a bit of a downer for them. At our house it was “eating Creole” and we looked forward to it. My grandfather had » Read More
The Francis Effect
Some pundits think that leaders don’t really affect much. They should read the Wall Street Journal article titled “Family Fiat for Thrifty Pope.” Here’s the opening paragraph. “In Vatican circles, the phrase ‘Francis effect’ describes how a pope famous for his ascetism is » Read More
Conversations
Want to be a great boss? Spend time talking with your people. Sure, Tweets and emails and text messages are important, but conversations are the real power tool. If you touch base often with your people, you’ll have conversations naturally, because that’s what people do. Those natural conversations will be about lots » Read More