All in Leadership
In my last post, I included an excerpt from a post by David Whyte that spoke to how enduring friendships are based on a measure of forgiveness and an acceptance of our own imperfections.
That same post also spoke to how our friendships act as a window into our lives:
“The dynamic of friendship is almost always underestimated as a constant force in human life: a diminishing circle of friends is the first terrible diagnostic of a life in deep trouble:
Episode 11 of the podcast is now available and continues our exploration of the art of Communication, a subject that's integral to our ability to succeed in just about anything we do. In this episode, I share the age old story of The Curate's Egg and what it tells us about being upfront in our communications.
It’s amazing to me that the one subject that has had the most influence on our ability to get anything done in business (and, frankly, personal) life is also the one that is given the least attention (relatively) at Business School: working with people.
Don’t get me wrong - it’s not as if there isn’t any acknowledgement that it’s critical (there is) or that Professors don’t speak to its importance (they do).
Episode 10 of the podcast is now available and this episode kicks off this month's focus on the art of Communication, a subject that's integral to our ability to succeed in just about anything we do.
Conversations about great company cultures are almost always accompanied by talk of nice offices with modern conveniences, bring-your-pet-to-work days, free food and more. In fact, read about the latest hot startup, and modern media (conventional or otherwise) will be abuzz with stories about the lengths these companies are going to for their employees (from no dress code to unlimited vacations to relaxation pods).
It’s not surprising then that these ideas become comingled: that amazing work culture goes hand in hand with these kinds of tangible amenities.
Episode 7 of the podcast is out now, and in this episode, I close out this month's focus on "Story" and its role in our lives. I talk about how we use stories to define who we are and what we do and how we can begin tell ourselves better stories to change who we are.
Perspective is the ability to sit back and (more objectively) assess what a particular situation really means for your relationships, your work and your life. And it’s usually a very difficult thing to have when you’re right in the heat of the moment.
When you’re in the midst of it, things can seem like they’re do or die. Sometimes that may be the case but, more often than not, what’s happening is that we’re not actually processing all inputs effectively (or at all) so as to make an appropriate judgement, just the ones that are the most prominent to us at the time.
Episode 8 of the podcast is now available and, in this episode, I continue the exploration of Story in our lives, again diving into Donald Miller's phenomenal book, A Million Miles In A Thousand Years. I discuss character, sacrifice and what stories we should aspire to leave behind when we're gone.
There’s a debate raging at the moment around the football club I support (Arsenal) as you whether they should replace the club’s manager of the last couple of years, Unai Emery.
Emery, for those who don’t know, replaced a club legend, Arsene Wenger, who managed the team for 22 years and brought us the greatest period in our history. He not only transformed the club but he transformed English football, in general.
When you’re growing a business, it’s no surprise that you need friends who will advocate for you. I’ve relied on more than my fair share over the last 15 years as I’ve built the business - friends both outside the firm as well as within it - and they’ve been essential to the success that we’ve achieved.
A subset of these friends have gone above and beyond - they’ve truly put themselves out there for us. These are individuals who’ve (certainly in our early days) put their reputations on the line, or gone out of their way to help the firm, or given materially of their precious time to further our goals.
Episode 7 of the podcast is now available and, in this episode, I continue this month’s discussion about story and it’s role in our lives. I talk about my first business trip and the book, A Million Miles In A Thousand Years.
I was speaking with a client the other day about a specific change initiative they were about to implement.
The client’s team had been working off of a planning process that was individualized and not institutionalized, and hence, had different leaders at the same level working at different levels of depth and rigor, from the amount of data they utilized during that process to the quality of the analysis and output.
Not an entirely uncommon phenomenon in many big companies and one that had evolved over the years as a result of organic and inorganic growth. All the same, this was now leading to missed opportunities and a lack of true strategic alignment.
Presentations and pitches are tricky things.
By definition, the goal is to sell something to someone. It could be to get a business idea funded, to get approval to move forward on a project or, to make a sale. In all cases, we’re trying to convince someone to part with something valuable (usually, but not always, money) in return for whatever it is we have to offer.
A few weeks ago, I set up my home office, a small room in the basement where I can focus and get my work done. I’ve set it up with everything I need so that I can be productive and not get distracted by whatever else might be going on at home.
In the span of these last few weeks, it’s already become my ‘haven’, a place where I can tackle my most important projects, where I can do all of the things I’ve got planned. It’s something I’ve wanted even before we moved into this house.
Epictetus’ words are easy to understand, but difficult to practice. Not surprising, given that it’s in our nature to be liked, to gain approval, to be considered valuable.
The problem is that when we accept these opinions, when we consider ourselves to be “important”, we think we’ve “arrived” and achieved some special end-state or level of wisdom.
What it boils down to is this: there’s a legitimate fear that if we actually make something, we’ll have to face the true state of our skills and accept how much improvement we still have ahead of us” Chase Jarvis - Creative Calling
This is the hard part about creating - particularly for the very first time, when we’re trying something brand new.
A common question when I’m discussing what I do for a living is whether there’s much travel involved. My answer is always that, yes, there’s a moderate amount of travel involved.
Of course, the term “moderate” means different things to different people. There are those who feel being on the road once a month for a couple of days is a lot. And then there are folks( in consulting, for example) who get on a plane week in, week out, flying out on Monday AM and flying home Thursday or Friday PM.
…Is not a phrase I’m entirely comfortable with.
Sure, there’s a maturity that comes with age - what we can refer to as wisdom. This experience also has a way of tempering our roughest, ‘least-rounded’ impulses which. in so many ways, is not at all a bad thing.
But the idealism of youth brings with it a daring, an audacity that has (more often than not) broadened our way of thinking, pushing our boundaries and forcing us to confront those things that hold us back yet we’ve taken for granted.
“How people may emotionally connect with music I’ve been involved in is something that part of me is completely mystified by...Human beings are really different, so why would it be that what I do connects in that way? I discovered maybe around (Radiohead’s album) The Bends that the bit I didn’t want to show, the vulnerable bit...that bit was the bit that mattered.” Thom Yorke
The 1,000 true fans of what you do, the ones who will follow you through hell and high water, aren’t there because they expect you to sell them something. They aren’t interested in you because you’re thoroughly researched, or because you’re crafted to the nth degree.
The recent WeWork debacle is an incredible business story that MBA students will be dissecting and analyzing for years to come.
How could a company that was expecting one of the richest, most high profile IPOs of recent times now be on the verge of bankruptcy - in barely a couple of months?
It seemed to have all the ingredients you’d want - a flamboyant founder who would often walk around Manhattan barefoot, a lofty mission about elevating our consciousness, a truly differentiated product offering and marketing buzz that the most storied brands would kill for.
