Our colleague Casey Fletcher sent me a Wall Street Journal article that describes several crises solved where “humility” was a key factor in the solution. Here’s the link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-a-life-or-death-crisis-humility-is-everything-11564133402?mod=mhp The article author Sam Walker describes the situations and how the heroes responded to resolve.  He points out four characteristics that existed to attain the best results possible.  Expertise – The leaders had solid, professional experience. They had logged many hours. Seen many things.  They were able […]

You’ve probably never heard of Esther Wojcicki. She is a high school teacher in Palo Alto, CA who has a reputation for making a huge difference to students throughout her career.  She is known as “Woj”. But, she and her husband Stan also raised three very accomplished daughters: Susan (CEO of YouTube), Janet, a Fulbright-winning anthropologist, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and researcher, and Anne(co-founder of 23andMe). YouTube is owned by Google. 23andMe is a ground-breaking genetics company making great headway into […]

It’s a privilege to share these notes every day. Why do I write them? My goal is to capture the “corporate knowledge” and deliver it to all of you. When anyone in our organization is confronted with a situation where there is uncertainty about what to do, I want all these notes to form the voice in your head that guides you to the best decision. There are some of you who have read these […]

I subscribe to a business magazine Fortune.  One of their issues each year involves them listing the top 50 Leaders in the World. As they identify these leaders, they offer characteristics that they share to help them achieve this status. Here are three: Listeners – Good listeners lean in, acknowledge what they’re hearing, no interruptions, good listening body language.  When the listener speaks, she asks great, insightful questions. Optimism – Our COO Matt Sheffield says […]

“When strength is the mission, hard is the standard and work is the requirement.  When comfort is the objective, easy is acceptable and effort is an afterthought.” –  Brian Kight. Another good thought from organizational consultant Brian Kight. “When strength is the mission” I heard very many years ago that successful organizations are strong, fast and agile.  Strong enough to face the challenges and embrace the opportunities.  Fast enough to be quick on the scene […]

“Building a great team is not just about feeding the positive.  We must also weed the negative.  Identify it.  Confront it.  Transform it.  Remove it.” – Jon Gordon One of the cultural tenets we work under is “purge negativity”. Gordon’s imperative of weeding the negative resonates. We’ve all heard it: “one rotten apple spoils the barrel”. I like the order Gordon provides. Identify it:  Negativity doesn’t hide.  It intends to be noticed.  It is aggressive […]

You have one, whether you want one or not. Your spouse.  Your kids.  Your colleagues.  Your friends.  Everyone you interact with has classified you as trustworthy or not.  It’s the music that runs in the background of every group of people. Trust lubricates things.  It cuts down on friction.  When trusting relationships get sideways, the presence of trust allows folks to communicate with courage, say what needs to be said, work quickly for solutions. Our […]

Did you hear that Tiger Woods won a golf tournament yesterday?  Good!  Just checking that all your gadgets work. I think Tiger winning ranks as one of the unlikeliest occurrences in sport. Think of it: He’s old.  Most guys his age are beginning to wind down their pro golf career.  Their strength is waning as well as their nerves.  It’s rare a man his age is competing at such a level. His body is fragile. […]

Have you developed the skill of “courageous communication”? I don’t know if you noticed, but the times where there aren’t some problems to address are rare.  When problems exist, you have a choice.  Will I address it or tolerate it? In the end, the condition of the team/family/relationship where you are involved will be based on what is tolerated and what gets addressed.  My experience is that we are all prone to tolerate as compared […]

If we are wise, we give people opportunities to “earn” respect as well as extend the courtesy of “owed” respect. What’s an environment where you “earn” respect? What does it look like? Our annual survey gives us a bunch of clues: We make expectations clear.  When people know what is expected, they have targets for which to aim.  Giving a person a target and letting them play is an invitation for respect.  Hitting expectations is […]