Believe me, no boss likes being blind-sided by something that one of their subordinate managers had wind of in advance. To help me avoid this mistake, a senior executive told me early in my management career I should always keep… Read More ›
Exercising Responsibility
WHEN IS ENOUGH ENOUGH?
One of the most difficult decisions for any manager is deciding that something has gone as far as it should and that definitive action of some kind is now in order. In my Workshops, I refer to this as answering… Read More ›
FACING A DIFFICULT CONVERSATION: LISTEN FIRST
My wife was a practicing nurse in a physician’s office for many years. We often talked about how many doctors just didn’t seem to appreciate how nervous most of us get sitting as patients in a waiting room wondering if… Read More ›
THE RIGHT CALL?
I live in Portland, Oregon, home of the National Basketball Association’s Portland Trailblazers. There remains a sense of deep regret among our sports fans that their 2007 number one overall draft pick Greg Oden never made a significant contribution to… Read More ›
IN SEARCH OF COMMON GROUND
Recently my wife and I finished watching the HBO special “John Adams”. Throughout the series two things struck a powerful cord in me. First, how lucky we were as Americans that with no long, indigenous national history or established political… Read More ›
Insights on Managing and Leading 