Stuck between mediocrity and excellence

Feedback can be a b*tch.  If it's positive, then the world is great.  If it's negative, or "constructive," as many of us like to say, then it can become instantly personal.  A lot of things have to be right for feedback to stick and be impactful.  Trust has to exist. Trust only comes through respect, credibility, integrity, and competency. Not a lot of people in the workplace score high in all of these categories.  Emotional intelligence has to exist . The ONLY being I know that that is truly in charge of his emotions is Mr. Spock from Star Trek. And he's fictional. The reality is that we are all emotional human beings-some more than others. The growth mindset has to trump the fixed mindset.  There is a book that is out called Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday. It's probably for a good reason. In today's world of exhibiting false confidence and having swag, you eventually begin to believe how legendary you are. This immediately closes down all...

A question that can commonly come up in an interview process is, "Describe your ideal work environment."  My answers would be one where: I can wear many hats I can make decisions  I can lead people I have the support to grow personally and professionally I am always learning something new I am improving or making something better each and every day People are collaborative I work with others that are smarter than I am  Schedules aren't hard coded The one-liner is a work environment where I belong and don't just "fit." Because more than likely what I've done is mutated myself to make myself fit into the environment and the system.  In a world where nobody holds down one job for an extended period of time anymore-- that's a lot of square peg fitting into round holes. Do it long enough and you'll eventually end up not knowing what shape you are.  Isn't it worth it to define your ideal work environment and pursue that ...

Inherent in any organization is a system.  You can call it culture. You can call it the people. You can call it beliefs and values.  It's still a system.  The solopreneur has a system.  A group of partners running a small business has a system.  A multi-functional global organization has a system that is made up of many systems.  I'm not talking about technology.  I'm talking about how people behave. How decisions are made. How people treat other.  A system for how things get done. If you work in a large, global organization, the system is defined as "heavily matrixed," or "bureaucratic," or "influencing and persuading through relationship building."  People generally move ahead because they've figured out how to effectively work the office politics.  If you work for a small organization, the system is defined as "chaotic," or "one has to wear many hats," or "filled with growing pains."  ...

Leadership Advice From Kublai Khan

There are plenty of stories written in news articles and books about business turnarounds. Marcus Lemonis does it most of the time on The Profit . Jon Taffer makes it his sole mission on Bar Rescue to resurrect bars that should not even be in business.  Management consultants not only write about business turnarounds, but use them to support frameworks and points of view to help them sell service offerings.  Everyone loves the story of the 600 pound human that becomes the Biggest Loser .  There are 2 types of people in this world; people that don't want to change and people that want to help you change.  "People want to get better or improve. But they don't want to change." - Butchered Tony Robbins Quote If you are coaching a team or running a business, the hope is that you have more people that are in the category of wanting to change than the other.  If your team or company is filled with people that don't want to change, then it's ...

There are certain things that you take for granted when working for a corporation or a well run business.  These are usually the things that everyone complains about. They include: Processes and procedures Performance reviews HR policies HR in general. (ha) Templates and forms (e.g., expense reports) Management meetings Required training Etc...  As much as these things take us away from "doing our job," they are part of our job and are necessary to keep a company from becoming a big pile of mass chaos. The foundation of a company has to be stable and part of that foundation includes having a set of standards to live by.  No standards = inmates running the asylum.  No standards = inconsistency.  As Jim Collins said,  "The signature of mediocrity is not unwillingness to change; it's chronic inconsistency."  Businesses are made up of people.  People, by nature, are unique and variable.  Without anything...

Back in the dark ages when I was in business school, I decided to enter a supply chain case competition with a couple of classmates.  As a side note, both of those classmates are now supply chain PhDs.  It's safe to say that I was the not the smartest one on the team. My love for business books existed way back then. I vividly remember working long hours with my teammates and using strategic frameworks that weren't business school standard issued.  I figured that if we were going to win this thing, we should use something that would differentiate us from the other teams.  In this case, it was content provided by the book  Profit Patterns  by Moser, Mundt, Quella, and Slywotzky.  It was coming down to crunch time and I was spewing textbook rhetoric from the book for our case presentation. We were entering that period of working as a team where tensions were running high because of the time crunch and we had nothing in the form of a coherent s...