Build a great company on a powerful foundation!
I sure get tied up in all these activities I’m engaged in. My to-do list is endless.
But it’s critical to spend some time reflecting on what’s going on. How am I doing – REALLY? Is the business healthy? How about my key relationships?
And when I’m surrounded by all this noise and distraction, it’s SO hard to do!
Read the rest of this entry »Yeah, I’ll confess: I’m an engineer.
So it’s fascinating to me that I’m much deeper now into the “people side” of business. I love that people are SO much more challenging to work with!
A never ending cascade of depth and complication. But my engineering side does come out, because I tend to see everything as a process which can be designed and improved.
If only people were that simple.
Read the rest of this entry »Where do you get your inspiration from?
It’s an important question when we get bogged down by details, by differences and disagreements. Which is SO easy these days.
But all of that doesn’t give you energy and the inspiration to move forward.
Read the rest of this entry »We’re the absolute best at what we do! In the world!
Is that really true? And more importantly, is that what our customers and stakeholders need from us?
It’s good to step back and ask this kind of question periodically, because it’s easy to fall in the trap of trying to be the absolute best at something people don’t really care about.
Read the rest of this entry »The real world never lines up the way you’d like it to. There are always imperfections.
Of course, this is incredibly frustrating – even if you don’t think of yourself as a perfectionist.
This comes to mind because I’m currently working on a yearly budget. And I don’t dream in spreadsheets.
Read the rest of this entry »Sometimes I find it hard to see a positive future. Perhaps you also have days where it feels like you’re stuck in problems and drudgework.
I’ve found that it’s really much more about my own attitude than what’s happening outside me. I’m the one who’s stressing myself out.
I suppose this might happen to you as well?
Read the rest of this entry »One of my challenges is being able to constantly flip between the big picture and the detailed picture. And I know others can struggle with this too.
I’ve been neck deep in spreadsheets, which is not exactly my most favorite place to be. And then I get yanked over to dealing with someone who felt ignored. Then over to that email conversation I forgot to reply to yesterday.
Sometimes it feels like I’ve done nothing but look at details.
Read the rest of this entry »Sometimes opportunities just pop up out of nowhere!
I’ve been teaching a class recently which talks about the idea of being open to opportunities.
“Luck favors the prepared mind.”
Louis Pasteur
I have to confess that I don’t favor using the word “luck” in this context, because it feels too random and out of control. The fact is that opportunities happen all the time, but most of the time we’re not prepared to do anything about them.
Read the rest of this entry »Sometimes it’s your job to communicate the bad news. It might be one of the toughest things you have to do.
There are plenty of resources which give great advice for doing this in personal circumstances, like when you have to say that a loved one has died. But I’m surprised that there isn’t as much help for doing this in the work context.
Over the years I’ve had to both receive and give bad news on the job, sometimes on the same day. I thought I’d share some principles which have helped me.
Read the rest of this entry »Sometimes an exciting new possibility opens up for you. But should you jump on it?
That can be a tougher question than it looks on the surface. At first, it might appear simple: If I have time, and it’s not too risky, why not?
The problem can be is that you don’t know all the factors up front, and it may distract you from other things which are more important in the long run.
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