The pandemic wears on. People get more restless with the abiding uncertainty, wrankling repetition, and worry. True in homes. True in nursing homes. True in cities and colleges. True for countries and the world. Money and health? Is anything more foundational for our well-being, and more worrisome when it’s threatened? Although we don’t have physical … Continued
Today I begin a writing partnership with Greg McBeth. Greg’s an engineer, co-founder with his wife Falon, consultant to entrepreneurs, and great writer. He’s also a gambler. While I limit Read2Lead to a page’s length, Greg lets himself go into greater depth. We chose a topic, gave ourselves a little guidance, but then went off and … Continued
It’s a painful irony that we share both our deepest and ennobling love, yet also reserve our worst behavior for those who are closest to us. And “closest” these days takes on a new and literal meaning. When his 97 year-old father fell sick after exposure to Covid-19 and was left alone by his regular … Continued
Dan has been writing Read2Lead weekly since March 1, 2000. Twenty years! A new era of Read2Lead begins today, with Dan’s partner Laura Andersen, weighing in. She will now periodically contribute, as they lead by two! The topic is right on point. In a recent post, Dan described his experience speaking to students as their … Continued
[If you are fed up with politics, I think you, especially, should read this, but I certainly understand if you don’t. For my part, I think we need to keep speaking and listening, and not falling into all the same divisive traps. If we are connected, you may have read an earlier version of this … Continued
When I say “leader,” you likely see a speaker. You likely see someone separated from the crowd, perhaps facing them. That was me in my lecture last week to 80 non-MBA graduate school students. But add a couple elements to the picture. Before I began speaking, I asked for a couple volunteers to take careful … Continued
Over 20-plus years of teaching and coaching leadership, I have increasingly come to love and strive for simplicity. And today I offer three tools that a leader always has at their disposal. . Aim the telescope. The telescope points to destination or, in leadership lingo, vision. Help people see clearly through it to where we … Continued
Vic Granholm, my wife’s dad died on Tuesday past, January 21, 2020. His body was cremated, and he was memorialized at church. In many traditions,* the soul leaves the body at death, yet remains for a time. What’s next – whether an after-life, in heaven, in the body of some newborn creature, or not … Continued
“Bias creeps into you as a child without your permission, like the cold on a wet foggy day.” Where I grew up, “we” was a weird and sloppy mess. We lived in Inkster, Michigan; about 35,000 of us. (We knew people called us Stinkster, but we called their towns of Garden City and Westland – … Continued
With two weeks to go in the year, most of us face the choice of getting IMPORTANT things done . . . or not. The “not” result can easily happen when on the one hand we feel pressure(d), and on the other we feel a mix of “there’s just no way to get it all … Continued