Why Forcing Change Backfires—And What to Do Instead
“If you have to force change, you’ve already failed.”
This became painfully clear when I learned why the majority of organizational transformations collapse…
The Real Reason Your Middle Managers Are Failing (Hint: It’s Not Their Fault)
I recently came across a LinkedIn post that began with the sentence: ‘Middle managers have gotten soft.’ The author argued that middle managers, as a group, are no longer driving team performance to a sufficient level and are therefore to blame for many companies’ struggles. Upon reflection, I don’t think the author was looking at the problem deeply enough.
Metacognition for Leaders
I recently decided to train for a half marathon happening this fall. My mind told me it would be easy since I’ve run before. I was wrong.
My first training run told me that, in reality, training for a half marathon would be the opposite of easy. I think my huffing and puffing could be heard several counties away. Why had my mind tricked me?
When Truth Gets Lost in Translation
I was in a CEO’s office recently when she told me something startling. Tina confidently informed me that she had checked in with her direct reports and they had assured her that company morale was high.
Her message surprised me because I had spoken to several people on the front lines of the company who told me the exact opposite. They were frustrated about a perceived lack of communication and clarity.
The Art of Recognition
The CEO of a tech company was under pressure to make the presentation of his life.
Despite the company’s success, it was at a pivotal moment in its history. Company leaders felt they had created a transformative new product, but they had to get the rest of the world to agree. The CEO was about to deliver a keynote address to reveal the product to shareholders and customers, and he knew he had to nail his pitch.
Then, he did something unexpected.
Moving Beyond Learning
A couple of years ago, my then-coach Dawnna was guiding me on growing the speaking side of my business. She asked me, “What have you done to educate yourself about the speaking business?”
I listed the numerous workshops I’d attended and books I had read on the topic. It became immediately clear that the knowledge I had taken in far exceeded the results I had achieved up to that point. She stared at me for a moment, and then said, “The first thing you need to do is stop reading books until you actually apply what you’ve already learned.”
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