You may remember George Burns. The cigar-gumming circular-bespectacled comedian. He was known for many things from his acting parts in Oh, God and The Sunshine Boys from his earlier vaudeville fame to the fact that he lived to be 100. You may not know that he was born Nathan Birnbaum. He was one of 12 […]
Ever find yourself on a team or in an organization that’s struggling because of a leader’s poor decision? Citizens clamor about such crippling effects by their politicians routinely. You sit back and reflect on the leader personally and wonder why a savvy, experienced, and ordinarily capable person could make such a stupid decision or policy—one
Why Smart Managers Make Stupid Decisions Read More »
Many people today talk about leadership who’ve never led anything more complex than a high school marching band. They offer this or that principle as if proven under fire when, in fact, their experience has been limited to launching missiles in a game of Battleship. But that’s not to say that you can’t learn from
Leaders Who Fail: Lessons You Can Learn From Them Read More »
Enough books have been written and enough information is available that, by now, most leaders and managers understand what they need to do to manage change in their organization. They understand the need to get buy-in, secure credible senior sponsors, persuade key influencers in the organization and communicate, communicate, communicate. Some of the more sophisticated
Managing the Pressure of Change Read More »
“Project management is easy. We have been managing people for hundreds of years. Just take any manager, give them a project, and tell them to get it done.” Experienced project managers will accurately predict the end of this story—there is a disproportionate chance this project will fail. Rather than “manager” being the key noun, a leader is required
We Need Project Leadership, Not Management Read More »
Three Choices That Will Make You an Accelerator By Craig W. Ross Accelerators can be found in every level of every organization; they get those around them to the point of realized potential more quickly and create faster, more efficient results. But, what is an Accelerator and how do you know if you
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You can live your life by one of two philosophes. You can choose to be the exception to any rule or you can choose to be the rule. There are always exceptions: JFK was the first-and last-Catholic in the White House and Chrissie Evert had a winning unorthodox backhand. But both of these are the
Are You the Exception or The Rule: Follow the Candidates to Find Out Read More »
Janet wore a smile from the nose down; her eyes bore daggers. If I offered a Friday afternoon off for having finished a big project early, she “wished” it had been last week when she and her husband were headed out of town for the football game. When I ordered in pizza for everyone’s lunch
Managing A Passive-Aggressive Person on Your Team Read More »
By Craig W. Ross A common misconception is that consensus is needed among team members to drive high performance. The Rolling Stones were on to something when they sang, “you can’t always get what you want.” But I’ve found that focusing on team collaboration, rather than consensus, helps companies actually get what they need. What’s
Collaboration vs Consensus: You can’t always get what you want Read More »
The latest edition of HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” features a story about the “trophy culture” of youth sports—the awarding of a trophy to any child who participates in an organized athletic activity. Actually, “participates” is too stringent a standard in one Los Angeles youth soccer organization. According to the organization’s commissioner, anyone whose
The “Trophy Culture” of Employee Engagement Read More »
