As an executive coach, part of my job is to help clients learn from and avoid getting their own version of some of the scars on my back. One of…
Category: Leadership
Bad Apples
Recently, in preparation for a long, 1200-mile road trip (nasty winter weather coupled with living in a high airfare market causes one to do things like that), I shopped for…
Working With Admin. Assistants to Really Amp Your Effectiveness
With the advent of cell phones, sophisticated voice messaging systems, scheduling software, and widespread word processing capability, the footprint of administrative assistants (AA’s) in the workplace has shrunk considerably over…
Go Ask Your People
One of the traps that newly appointed managers at any level commonly fall into is in believing that, to be worthy of their job title and pay check, they must…
Feed the Opportunities, Starve the Problems
Life is short, the game is often fast, and each of us makes choices daily about the things we should devote time and attention to. I try to live by…
On Broken Glass, Apologies, and Obamacare
When I was fourteen, I took over a friend’s paper route for the summer. I don’t quite remember how that came to pass (I doubt that I was jumping for…
Sometimes It IS About the Money
https://contentedcows.com/blog/item/46-sometimes-it-is-about-the-money Few issues in the domain of business are thornier, more complex, and emotion-packed than that of how much money to pay someone for the work they do. Employee compensation thrusts…
Discretionary Effort Is a Big, Dot Deal
Since commencing research on what ultimately became our first book, I have taken a rather steely-eyed approach to the subject of employee relations. A data-driven sort, I suspect that, had…
Managing Expectations: Under Promise and Over Deliver
Guest Post by Robert CordrayThere’s an old expression, “He who expects little is seldom disappointed.” That’s not a great catchphrase for the customer service department, but it does bring up…
Hans Tanzler: A Born Leader
We’re often asked, “Can leadership be learned? Or is it hardwired at birth?” Our answer: Yes. We wouldn’t be doing what we’re doing if we didn’t really believe that leadership…