How Leaders Breathe Underwater

Many (many) summers ago, when I was in training to be a lifeguard on New York’s Lake George, the first principle I learned was how to safely approach a swimmer in distress. A safe approach included talking to them, letting them know I was there to help them, and giving them instructions.

The second principle I [...]

Shushing is Passé. Speaking Up is In.

Letter to editor SJ Mercury News re: article published Jan 25, 2010.  “Kudos to AMC Cupertino Square 16 for giving autistic kids and parents an opportunity to enjoy watching movies. You set a great example of how to appropriately alter rules (let them talk during the movie, stand up, even touch the screen) to create [...]

The Opportunity of Mistakes: Positive Impact with Authentic Apologies

Sports blogs are read 100 times more than leadership blogs. So I’m going with Mark McGwire’s apology to raise a leadership point. During the Bob Costa interview, McGwire admitted to his steroid use http://tinyurl.com/yhxqb87 — use he’d been denying for years, even under oath to Congress. I’ll let you call McGwire’s apology a ball or [...]

Challenge: Trade a transactional conversation for a transformational one

Huge topic. Let’s start with a situation: An employee who doesn’t report to you asks that you keep the following in confidence. Their performance review is overdue by 4 months. The employee anticipates a pay raise which is needed due to their spouse’s working hours reduced due to forced furloughs. They also want to know [...]

The Ultimate Leadership FAQ & Answer

Whether CEO, CFO, employee, spouse, spouse-ette, baker man, thief – we all want to know:  How can I make him/her/them behave differently, the way I want them behave?  The answer: You can’t, they must. OK, you saw that coming.

So, let’s rephrase the FAQ:  How do you influence someone to change their behavior?

Answer:  Obey the First [...]