Originally published February 4, 2021 on Forbes At your best, you choose love. You feel fear, or anxiety, or selfishness, or anger, or hate. But you choose love. You choose love because you’ve chosen fear and anxiety before. And it paralyzed you. You choose love because you’ve chosen selfishness before. And it isolated you. You…
Originally published January 27, 2021 on Forbes Good leaders know that alignment is critical in building successful teams. Unfortunately, many of them don’t do it often enough. Frequently leaders adopt a one-and-done, event-based mentality, for example, aligning at yearly or quarterly strategy meetings. While alignment should certainly happen at regular strategy meetings, it should also…
Originally published November 17, 2020 on Forbes [Spoiler alert: Yes!! If you don’t you’re dead in this economy.] I debated this question with the COO of medium-sized technology firm recently. His take was that while leadership at every level sounded nice, in reality it was impractical and unwise. His argument surrounded five reasons: Some people…
Originally published November 13, 2020 on Forbes A global pandemic is raging. Racial tensions are smoldering. Economic inequality is increasing. An environmental crisis is looming. And a partisan chasm in the US is widening. The challenges we’re facing didn’t just show up this year or even the over the last four years. They’ve been simmering…
Dear Friends, Starting next Wednesday, I’m running a 4-session virtual mastermind group, Leading Without Easy Answers hosted by The Aligned Center. The focus is on taking smart risks to create traction with a current business or idea. Sessions will weave together the hard business practices necessary for success and the soft skills of the heart, passion, and communication. We will deeply explore the polarity of success, from doubting yourself to trusting yourself, needing to move fast while also moving slow enough to be thorough, the need for stability but also for dynamism, and the creative tension between taking risks and seeking safety.
Small ideas Seem practical At first. More digestible More manageable More achievable Than big ideas. However Start to pursue them And you realize a problem. Small ideas Don’t breathe life. They don’t inspire you They don’t inspire customers They don’t inspire employees
You could try to learn to swim from a book But the moment you hit the water You’d realize It didn’t prepare you. You’d realize The real learning had just begun. Similarly You can’t learn to Ski Sing Juggle Ride a bike Or lead From reading a book. When an expert’s knowledge
Sometimes the wrong direction Is the right direction. Because at the beginning of a journey The two are indistinguishable. And the alternative is no direction. The wrong direction Gets the boat in the water Away from the dock Building momentum. It starts a voyage of discovery and learning.
Life is uncertain. Whether in the business world or at home, we feel an increasing loss of control over our future, and find ourselves paralyzed by indecision. Fear prevents people from taking chances and making game-changing moves. Anything other than the status quo appears inherently risky and reckless.
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