As a business owner, one of the most important contracts that ever came my way was the one I didn’t end up signing. On paper, it was a no-brainer. The prospective client was a powerhouse in the beauty care space. It was a lucrative contract with ample room to expand into an even larger engagement.… Continue reading Primal Seeking–the Allure & Danger of “More”
How to Overcome Breakdowns Without the Drama “I’m looking forward to partnering on what our contract will look like for next year,” you say. “But before we go any further, I just need to know…do you love those Godiva chocolates as much as I do?” “Sorry?” the client replies. “What do you mean?” “Oh,” you say,… Continue reading The Chocolates That Never Were
Implementing Stakeholder Capitalism Recently, in the midst of hashing out a particular nuance regarding ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance metrics), my colleague turned to me and said, “We’ve been talking about this stakeholder capitalism thing for a while now. I’ve known about ESG funds for months. But I just realized…I’ve never even taken a look at my… Continue reading Walking the Talk
The notorious performance review has become a modern-day torture tactic somehow accepted into the canon of corporate best-practices. Year after year, millions of employees file into their annual review with an enthusiasm befitting a dental cleaning. Here’s how you measured up. Here’s where you did well, and here’s where you fell short. Now get back out… Continue reading How to Do Performance Reviews Better
Ah…procrastination. The enemy of productivity. The killer of dreams. In a world of unprecedented distraction, how do we defeat this persistent foe? I’ve always been a productivity nerd. I love tinkering with project management systems, email strategies, and to-do list templates–anything to get an edge in getting stuff done. So, my tendency to procrastinate, despite… Continue reading YOU WILL NEVER HACK YOUR PROCRASTINATION HABIT
I once worked with a chief operations officer—we’ll call him Nicolas—who was asked by his CEO to present an update to the board. Nicolas prepared beautiful charts and airtight talking points to walk the directors of this private equity owned company through its day-to-day operations. But, it didn’t go to plan. After the meeting, the… Continue reading How to (Actually) Get Heard by Your Stakeholders
The other day, I was in a meeting with my colleagues. It was our Monday all-staff call that I really look forward to each week. But on this day, I noticed I was a little distracted and anxious. At first, I wasn’t sure what was going on with me. Then, toward the end of the… Continue reading HOW TO ELEVATE YOUR MEETINGS AND ACCOMPLISH WHAT MATTERS
Your shirt is drenched. Beads of sweat trickle down your face. You just took your pet labradoodle for a walk around the block. But with the summer heat climbing into the 90s, you may as well have gone for a stroll on the sun. The moment you cross the threshold of your home, though, you’re… Continue reading THE HIDDEN COSTS ARE KILLING YOU
What the Cynics Get Wrong About Stakeholder Capitalism Just a few months ago, many pegged Airbnb — the vacation rental online marketplace — as the poster child of the stakeholder capitalism movement. Airbnb did more than talk the talk. They walked the walk. CEO Brian Chesky penned an open letter to the Airbnb community in January outlining his vision… Continue reading You Can’t Always Get What You Want–
Have you ever heard those stories of normal people singlehandedly lifting cars to save someone pinned underneath? It’s a thing, and it has a name: hysterical strength. Hysterical strength is “a display of extreme strength by humans, beyond what is believed to be normal, usually occurring when people are in life-and-death situations.” The exact scientific explanation of this phenomenon is inconclusive, but there are more… Continue reading HOW TO LIFT A 3,000 POUND CAR
