Many of my students are crossing the most significant life threshold beyond kindergarten. They are starting real jobs. One asked me to write about leadership for “new job jitters.” Initially, I thought the topic too narrow and my readership too old (oops, that doesn’t sound so PC, does it?). The more I thought about it, … Continued
The buck just might stop with you. So, don’t pass it!!! A faulty ignition switch on a number of General Motors vehicles led to the deaths of at least 13 people. The buck now sits with GM’s new CEO Mary Barra. (The celebratory cakes honoring Ms. Barra, GM’s first female CEO were hardly sliced before … Continued
I tell students that my class should be the best class they take at Berkeley. I know. Sounds arrogant. But I quickly explain the two reasons why. First, “the topic is YOU,” I tell them – “your leadership – and what’s more interesting than YOU?” Second, I say that it’s not about me, but about … Continued
Yesterday we remembered all those who “made the ultimate sacrifice” in service to country. Especially since 911, we get all gushy. We should. We are blessed to live in this great country and blessed by those who have had to fight when the country seemed threatened. Standing in dizzyingly sharp contrast to our immaculate patriotism … Continued
Usually Reading for Leading comes surprisingly easy to me. I write a list of ideas that seem alive and then one just seems to recommend itself. This time, a list of five came easily enough. But none were worthy. None had mystery. None had zing. It took me a while to realize: Sometimes, “nothing” is a … Continued
I was just talking to a good friend and his 9th grade son, and I asked the youngster: “Who’s the leader in your house — your mom or your dad?” His mom who’s been largely stay-at-home is now re-entering the work force. His dad is the breadwinner, the bigger of the two, the main driver … Continued
This marks the final column, and to me, the most interesting data from our mini-research inquiry on managerial coaching. While the first two were about how frequently people would like to be coached, today’s data is about the what – On what do we like to be coached? Before we jump to the findings, however, a … Continued
Last week I shared the research on the huge gap that lies between the frequency of ideal and typical coaching. What your feedback on my survey showed was that most of us would like informal feedback once a week or at least every other week, while the highest percentage of people said that their “worst manager” and … Continued
Thanks to almost 200 of you who responded to last week’s survey, we have some pretty interesting data to look at over the next couple weeks. Today’s data — as my title suggests — gives us all a whack in terms of the contrast in the data. Here is a pretty self-explanatory table: So the … Continued
Shouldn’t every college graduate take a course in managing and coaching people? I know my wife and I with our fancy-shmancy bachelors AND graduate degrees never received formal training. Instead, we learned like so many people, on the job. Most of that was by osmosis from mostly average experiences. No slight is intended, as few … Continued