“I am my own worst critic.” “No one is harder on me than me.” “I beat myself up for mistakes.” I hear this all the time from CEOs when we talk about mistakes, errors in judgment that they have made. Can we just stop? Self-criticism without a dose of understanding is...
An outstanding quality of the leaders I have known is the ability to break the mold with an idea or concept that was so foreign that it exposed the leader to ridicule. One of my managing editors from newspaper days, an exceptionally savvy fellow named Neal Pattison,...
Yeah, I know. March Madness and all that. I do love it. Know what else I love? The movie, “Hoosiers.” My favorite scene comes at the end when, with the score tied, Coach Gene Hackman calls for a last-second shot by someone other than the star player...
I took a phone call from a friend who admitted he screwed up and my respect for him rose even higher. I had recommended him for professional work to some colleagues and he failed to live up to the reputation that I had created. He called my colleagues first to...
A CEO told me that when she needs time to think, she finds an empty cubicle in her office building and “hides in plain sight” there so she isn’t frequently interrupted. I love it. Next time we meet I am going to tell her about “The Schultz...
How do you show up as a leader when things go wrong? I’d like you to recall the last time when events did not go as planned in your personal life or business, and remember how you reacted. It could be anything from a late delivery – to the restaurant bringing...
