I can’t imagine what has happened to all of the slouches. Almost everyone I know these days is obsessed with their personal productivity and performance. Whether it’s hitting a profit target, or getting more page views on a blog, or just making ends meet, I am surrounded by a cloud of witnesses – hyper-responsible and ambitious souls – driven by some looming pressure to deliver results and add value. I can practically hear the value-added theme music playing in the... Read more
There are many things to admire about the British, the most obvious being their attractive accents, which somehow make them sound much smarter and far more commanding than their American colleagues. It doesn’t matter how disheveled their appearance might be, or how dry the subject is, those darn accents can captivate even the most insolent audience. Aside from that, another thing I greatly appreciate about the Brits is their great facility for doling out words of praise. This doesn’t come... Read more
I went out to breakfast last week with some middle-aged man-friends from my church, and the conversation turned to the subject of blogging. One of these friends, a business owner, had a recent experience with a flurry of online chatter, mostly positive, regarding his company. He pulled out several sheets of the posts and comments he had printed out, and marveled at the firestorm of activity that was swirling in the mysterious subterranean depths of the internet, outside of any... Read more
As our world continues to shift from a product economy to a knowledge economy, a slew of business books such as The Trusted Advisor, A Seat at the Table, and The Go-Giver are all spelling out the obvious: the best way of growing your business is through developing trusted relationships with real people, and finding ways to help them to succeed. Not by dragging the bag and peddling some dusty old product features. One of the fundamental rules of this enlightened approach... Read more
Last week while I was in San Diego, I met up with my blogging friend Matthew Polkinghorne at a funky little restaurant for breakfast. Matthew is much younger than me, but is already vastly better connected, as indicated by the top leadership name brands he casually mentions in passing conversation. “Brad,” he says, “You should come out with me next week to Marshall’s house for our morning walk.” As in Marshall Goldsmith, best-selling author and famous leadership coach to Fortune 500... Read more
Last week I attended a Strategy conference featuring some fancy Harvard Business School professors at a swanky California seaside hotel. During one of the luncheons, I struck up a conversation with the gentleman seated next to me, a sturdy-looking man who worked for a large charity organization in the Midwest. The word “Grace” was prominently emblazoned on the logo on the front of his blue denim shirt, as it represented the first half of his organization’s name. We chatted about... Read more
I know a gentleman who runs a major division of a global firm. He is super-successful, has a wonderful family, and is faithful to his church. By all appearances, he models Christian maturity. But when I asked him to get involved in a discussion group promoting spiritual growth among business leaders, he turned me down flat. “Stan doesn’t ‘do’ small group discussions,” his wife later told me, on the sly. Her voice was lowered to a shushed whisper, as if... Read more
I figured it was time to brush this off and give it another whirl. Repost from a year ago – but still relevant as ever, folks! I have been using Twitter for over a year now, which, as you probably know already, makes me a seasoned expert. It doesn’t take much these days in the social media circles to be considered a specialist. Really, you just have to actually use those social media gadgets and then take a know-it-all attitude... Read more
There was an article in last Sunday’s New York Times business section about Evan Williams, the founder of Twitter. He is stepping down as CEO to work on product strategy, a place where he feels he is best-suited to add value. In dissecting his leadership personality profile, the journalist described Evan as “being at ease with himself,” and “comfortable in his own skin.” A key indicator was that, despite his significant status as a founder of one of the most... Read more
A few weeks ago I attended a writer’s workshop at Laity Lodge in Texas. The program consisted of a small group of soon-to-be-famous writers and one semi-famous musician, all sitting around a table under the tutelage of an already-famous literary genius. This was my very first venture into any kind of formal or professional writing development; so needless to say, I was intimidated and nervous. But I am a dedicated person, thus I subjected myself to the impending pain and... Read more
Shrinking the Camel
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