Performance Rules!

Actually, my real question is, “Leadership: What is it?” But every time I tried to type that question, the Edwin Starr song, War: What Is It Good For? came to mind.
So, what is leadership? That’s a big question. No, it’s a huge question. How about management – how does it differ? These are not questions [...]

I’ve written a lot about how important positive, or confirming, feedback is to a person’s performance. The reason is simple: People tend to do more of what they’re praised or rewarded for. If I tell you that I like the way you did something, you’re more likely to do that again. But there’s another reason [...]

Imagine for a minute that you and I are faced with the same scene: we’re standing on a street corner in downtown Seattle around midnight, when we hear people yelling, agitated voices, then a loud bang followed by three men running out of a back alley. What’s going on?
Okay, some kind of fight, probably a [...]

One of the best books I’ve read in a long time is Delivering Happiness, by Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos. Why? Because it’s all about what I believe may be the most important factor in the success of a business. Oh, and I like the way it’s written.
For years I’ve been asking successful business owners, [...]

You’re not being judged. Accept it, even if it’s not true. Pretend, if that’s what it takes. In fact, it will probably take some pretending, since we’re being judged most of our lives. But just do it – pretend you’re not being judged.
How often is your behavior impacted by what you think others think of [...]

Every year around this time, individuals, organizations and the media make lists of “The Best…,” “The Worst…,” “The Most…,” “The Stupidest…,” and list possible New Year’s resolutions. Me? I like to list what I’ve learned over the past 12 months. For me, a day without learning is a day not lived, let alone an entire [...]

Awhile back, I wrote a post about change, specifically about how individuals can change their mental programming with the use of mental imagery. But I posed the question, “How does an entire organization change – how can an entire company do mental programming?”
So, do you have the answer?
I’m waiting…
Okay, maybe I’ll take a stab at [...]

What are you? And when I ask about you, I’m mean you as a person, a team, or an organization. At the core, what are you? If you can’t answer that in 60 seconds or less, you won’t be successful.
Claire Boothe Luce once said, “A great man is a sentence.” In other words, if you [...]

Be stupid.
Not knowing what you’re doing and not knowing what you “should” know, and being just a little bit dumb or naïve is sometimes a good thing. Knowing too much can be a bad thing.
Whether it’s in sports, business, or whatever, knowledge often limits what you do.
The examples are many: Entrepreneurs who jump in and [...]