Jan 28, 2021Member-onlyLeading in the face of problemsIn September 2016, I ate dinner with a colleague, Michael, who is from the US. I distinctly remember a part of the conversation when we strayed into talking about the 2016 Presidential election. Michael told me how he believed Trump would become the next President. Michael went on to say…Problems6 min readProblems6 min read
Jan 5, 2021Member-onlyLeaders make choices, not mistakesWhen someone has a collision on a roadway, it’s often called an accident. A (retired) Police Officer and good friend once told me there are no accidents on the road. When a collision occurs, someone is making a choice that leads to the collision. …Leadership5 min readLeadership5 min read
Feb 11, 2019Member-onlyPay attention to emotions in the workplaceWhat do you do when things start getting emotional at work? What if they’re your emotions? I’ve heard more than once recently, how some people believe emotions have no place at work. There was a period in my career where I subscribed to this belief. Things were getting emotional Last year, I attended a…Leadership4 min readLeadership4 min read
Feb 10, 2019Member-onlyWhat are you waiting for?I’ve been listening to the book “The four hour work week” by Tim Ferris. It’s a self-help book in which the author describes his life, and how he’s transformed the way he thinks about work so now he only works four hours each week. The premise is pretty straight forward…Entrepreneurship5 min readEntrepreneurship5 min read
Feb 8, 2019Member-onlyStop worrying about missing outI recently read an article which talked about the trap of not wanting to miss out on something. Not wanting to miss something is more commonly known as the fear of missing out (FOMO). When struck by FOMO you might find yourself saying yes to everything. I think I might…Fomo3 min readFomo3 min read
Feb 6, 2019Learning is not optional; success isYou are not leading for change when you fail to provide time for learning. A failure to provide learning time is a pretty typical scenario I encounter. Leaders load their teams up with work as they’re under the gun to deliver. Then, they tell the team we’re going to adopt…Agile5 min readAgile5 min read
Feb 5, 2019Member-onlyWho is responsible for trustI sometimes hear leaders claim the people don’t trust them. At times, they don’t even have a good handle on the amount of trust that exists. I’ve had leaders tell me they don’t trust their people. So, who is responsible for trust on a team? Is trust the responsibility of…Leadership5 min readLeadership5 min read
Feb 4, 2019Member-onlyStop doing dumb thingsI often write about the soft skills associated with Leadership. This post is going to be a little more tactical. So, if you only remember one thing about this post I want you to remember: “Stop doing dumb things.” Dumb things in my days as a Project Manager Have you ever created a project schedule for a creative process…Management5 min readManagement5 min read
Feb 2, 2019Member-onlyWhen leaders help, do they help or hinder?Yesterday, in my post leaders don’t make it comfortable I confessed to being a fixer. I used to spend a lot of time fixing, as I thought it was good leaders do. As I was writing yesterday’s post, it struck me that my message might be suggesting that leaders should…Leadership5 min readLeadership5 min read
Feb 1, 2019Member-onlyLeaders don’t make your comfortableHi, my name is Mike, and I am recovering fixer. I’ve spent a great deal of my life taking ownership for and fixing other people’s problems. I used to think this was a good thing, as I was able to make life more comfortable for others. …Leadership5 min readLeadership5 min read
