Articles/Blog
African Buffalo, Oxpeckers, and Leadership
Last month, I wrote about my experience in Kenya and particularly how a pride of lions reminded me of effective teams and strong leadership. Today’s blog is about something my niece and I learned from the guides in Serengeti and the mutual beneficial relationships between different species of animals. After being in Kenya for about…
Relentless Progress
The need to progress – to practice CANI, or Constant, Never-Ending Improvement – is an ever-present need in our lives, both personal and professional. Between social media and the fact of information literally at our fingertips, knowing what we should be reading, watching, researching or listening to can be confusing and often overwhelming. We often…
Leadership Lesson from Lions of Maasai Mara, Kenya
I just returned from a 16-day trip in East Africa, and there were two things that I loved most: first, meeting the people of Kenya and Tanzania and the opportunity to learn about different cultures; and second, the experience of observing and being with all the different animals and birds that live in the game…
Are We Really In That Much of a Hurry?
This past weekend I dropped off a few items of clothing at the dry cleaner. As I was waiting for my receipt to print (it actually took less than 5 seconds), the cashier began apologizing profusely for the computer being so slow and for making me wait. I was taken aback by her response. At…
Timely Response
Have you ever experienced not getting a reply in a timely manner? Maybe it’s a voicemail you left for someone several days ago, an unanswered email sent yesterday, or a text you sent this morning that remains unanswered or not replied to. We seem to have unconscious expectation of the expected reply time related to…
The 3 E’s of Effectiveness
For years I have been influenced and living by Stephen Covey’s definition of effectiveness – getting what you want in a way that enables you to get what you want again, and again, and again. This definition suggests the importance of balancing time and energy in getting results and, even more importantly, in strengthening your…
Expectations and Success as a Leader
I recently overheard a small group of business leaders commiserating about a project that wasn’t proceeding as well as anticipated. They all seemed to be in a spirit of supporting one another, as we so often do when we trust colleagues with our frustrations and complaints. This can be healthy, of course, the opportunity to…
Unpacking Your Day
Research shows us that most people underestimate what they can do in the long-term and overestimate what they can do in the short-term. As a result, many of us overfill our days with too many activities. I have been studying this for a long time, and although I have made great strides in blocking time…
Stop Growing and Developing
While I am a huge fan of the book “The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck,” I think author Mark Manson got one element wrong. He claims there is a natural “Law” called the “Backwards Law,” which suggests the human desire to improve and want for more is counterintuitive and that the opposite is…
Your Moment of Lift
I just finished reading “The Moment of Lift” by Melinda Gates – what a wonderful book! She shares experiences from the work she is doing with the foundation she and her husband started in 2000. One such experience she writes about is the horrible misconception that the uber-rich can solve world problems by throwing money…