“The Value of Not Knowing.” https://www.flickr.com/photos/n0r/276318217/in/album-72157594467105582/ Being genuinely humble is such a common challenge. I see that especially in highly capable founders and managers that I get to work with. I tried to be humble too because humility was such a sparkly clean and powerful virtue: A humble leader liberates the team by personally welcoming…
Tag: Leadership Whispers
Why You Should Get Your Teams Gifts
https://snarkyinthesuburbs.com/2016/11/14/dear-snarky-kill-me-now-because-my-office-has-12-days-of-secret-santa/ One Christmas, a boss gifted us a book on mindful leadership. “Ok, so you are a mindful jerk.” Someone quipped. “I want to reciprocate with ‘The Five Dysfunctions of a Team’ book.” Joked another. Another time we received cans of artisanal Baltic sardines. Greg the vegan tweeted, “It’s not personal. It’s not personal.💆🏻” And those…
The illusion of Simplicity — Leadership Whispers
Enso “Muichimotsu” by Kobayashi Taigen “This is so complicated!” We endure complicated processes, meetings that are littered with “break-outs,” “share backs,” and those damn “parking lots,” and we tend to blame these on our managers. Then when we become managers, we begin to accept simplicity is merely an aspiration that sits cross-legged at the highest…
Candor is Not Enough — Leadership Whispers
Dieter Rams Braun Lectron Radio 1967 “Be candid! Be honest! Yay, #teamwork !” Being “radically candid/brutally honest” isn’t instinctive because of the fear of losing relationships, the uncomfortableness of honest conversations, or any other fears for self-preservation. To tackle this, first consider these two beliefs you might lead your teams with: “We are radically honest with each…
“Fear of the Unknown” is Imprecise
Change is hard because it leads to failures. And failures are scary. 99% of us already know this. 🥱 The Jack Mas and Ray Dalios give us reasons and tips to bear-hug fear, and then every protagonist of any “zero to hero” movies explains to us, “It’s the fear of the unknown!” Or is it?…