Self-awareness Master of self-awareness Self-awareness is not part of the curriculum in most management programs. Although strategy and MBA-logic are essential, so is self-awareness. Lacking it may be blinding and lead to suboptimal long-term financial and cultural results. To clarify, an MBA is useful in leading an organization. But if the MBA-trained logic becomes
Growth All that matters is growth Sandberg, COO of Google, says that's the best advice she ever got because it meant Sandberg herself would grow: New skills, new connections, new perspectives...
Resilience Be present - today is all you have In 1972, Nando Parrado and his rugby teammates were traveling to Chile, and their flight never arrived at its destination; it tragically crashed at 18,000 feet in the Cordillera de los Andes. In the two-and-a-half months that followed, his life was changed completely. Nando made a superhuman effort, survived
Entrepreneurship Avoid sinking your business Business models have to be adaptable to survive, and sometimes changing course is necessary to avoid sinking your ship (business). Below are some things to think about: 1. Be all in. To keep track of whether your company is on course or veering into uncharted waters, you need to understand
Strategy Tough strategy questions to ask Companies often fail to address tough questions about strategy and execution: 1) Are we really clear, as a leadership team, about how we choose to create value. 2) Are we investing in those areas. 3) Does it fit the products and services we deliver? If your answer is yes to
Self-awareness Become a compelling speaker The ability to communicate effectively can make or break a person’s assessment of your intelligence, competence, and authenticity. Expertly employ Tumlin’s three musts for powerful and persuasive communication: 1) Be still: Avoiding erratic movements while talking, whether in a meeting or on stage, will give the impression that
Well-being Do you want to survive or thrive? It's easy to get bogged down in the busyness of life, a job, or an unproductive relationship without realizing time is passing us by, and the older we get the harder it can be to make a change. It is up to you to take the steps toward
Self-awareness Motivation: It’s all in your head Don’t think about what you want to get done in terms of something you “have to do.” Begin thinking in terms of getting your work done because you “choose to” or “want to” accomplish something. Science has established that motivation comes from a small section of the brain where
Well-being Evening habits for successful people Having spent my entire career in high-performance always-on businesses I've learned the importance of prioritizing healthy habits around sleep, mindset, nutrition, and exercise. I've found it essential to stay effective over long and intense periods of time. Below are some tips for evening habits. 1. Cut
Leadership Cross-department rivalries It can be challenging to synchronize tasks across multiple functions. Rather than cooperating, functions may end up competing for power, influence, and resources. Rivalry such as this is more than a nuisance; it’s costly. When such cross-departmental rivalries get heated and conflicts arise, turning to team-building events or motivational
Strategy Execution is not someone else's job There's a common misperception that the top exec in a company conceives the strategy, and execution happens below. Let's first define “strategy” and “execution,” the former is about making choices and the latter acting on them, i.e., people making decisions about what to do and
Entrepreneurship Want to start a business? What are you waiting for? When thinking about starting a business, an excellent place to start is to think about what you’re personally great at and what's easy for you. You’ll likely enjoy building a business doing what you’re great at. So start something, anything that you're great
Purpose You don't 'find', you 'build' your purpose "How do you find your purpose? That’s the wrong question to ask. Purpose is a thing you build, not a thing you find. Almost all work can be purposeful, i.e., school bus drivers caring for and keeping children safe, nurses treating people’s medical conditions and guiding
Team Identifying high-potential employees If you are going to invest in the right employees, the key questions concerns who they are and what highly talented people are like. Most organizations can upgrade their talent identification processes if they keep things simple and focus on three generic markers of potential: 1) Highly capable. 2) Socially
Expectations Things taken for granted Three things that are often taken for granted: Health, Time and Love: Health: Be in the moment. It's better to be loving than to be right. Be grateful for at least one thing every day. Go out of your way to be of service to others. Time: Start
Self-awareness Falling prey to bias Humans evaluate information in a biased manner. For instance, we often fall prey to confirmation bias; the tendency to focus on evidence that confirms our beliefs and assumptions rather than looking for information that contradicts it. Making matters worse: 1) We often do not realize that such biases weaken our
Productivity Learn to prioritize Learn to prioritize important over urgent, i.e., focus on being effective, not efficient. One way of ensuring effectiveness is to each night before going to bed, deciding on the most important thing you can do the next day. Start the following day by devoting time to achieving this important
Growth Don't fear failure Successful people don’t fear failure; they keep trying until they succeed. Stay motivated in the face of challenges by adopting a growth mindset, i.e., focus on learning and improving and accept that innovation is often born of a long series of failures. There is no shame in failing
Self-awareness Learn who you are Always striving to learn more about who we are, and remaining open to how we view ourselves, allows us to remain humble and accepting of others. The alternative of having a strict belief on who we are limits our ability to learn and grow due to bias of our own
Changing Jobs Goal in a new job Your main goal in a new job or field should not be immediate success or money, but to learn as much as possible. To succeed, achieve mastery by maximizing the time you spend learning from others and hone your skills. Knowing what mastery you want to achieve is the first
Well-being Mindfulness (what's the use?) Gold-standard studies show that there is less mind wandering and distractibility among those who practice regular mindfulness routines. These people showed better concentration, even when multi-tasking. Benefits of mindfulness include: 1) Stronger focus 2) Staying calmer under stress 3) Better memory While you may be skeptical about mindfulness, there are
Culture Build a high-performance team If you want to build a team of performers, build a team philosophy and culture designed to enable everyone who is part of it to excel: 1) Instead of leaving it up to your team, set a standard and help everyone rise to a higher standard of excellence in daily
Purpose Highly effective people Studies of highly effective people point to a strong correlation between believing in a mission, enjoying the job, and performing at a high level. Develop others towards their passion by: 1) Adopting a servant leader’s mindset. 2) Unlocking and discover people’s passions by asking lots of questions. 3)
Culture Motivating employees Every day, employees make decisions about whether or not to go the extra mile in ways that contribute to company's success. Therefore, a critical task for leaders is to motivate employees to engage in these extra-role behaviors or “citizenship behaviors.” The idea of citizenship is based on the
Growth Dealing with evolving roles When companies evolve at a rapid pace, some individuals who fit the company in its infancy may not fit over time as they may have difficulty keeping up with the company’s growth and the requirements of their evolving roles. Conversations around fit often assumes that round pegs go in
