Voice and Rank

“I am the leader.  Your decisions are not final until ratified by me.  A decision made in my absence is not valid.” — Anonymous I sat next to a manager who was leading a failing project and [...]

“My Team”

I’m sitting in a hotel room at the close of a conference where, for the last three days, the phrases “my team” and “your team” have come up repeatedly from speakers who are talking to roomsful of [...]

Who Do You Belong To?

When I was a child, my family tended to move house every few years.  My mother hated hot, dry weather and loved the rainy days common in a coastal climate.  My father hated dark, dreary days and [...]

Buck Up: Resile

I am an itinerate problem solver.  I walk into organizations in various roles to solve various kinds of problems.  Not uncommonly when I walk around a new organization I notice things like “No [...]

Crisis of Courage?

My last post, Courage— Learned or Innate, seemed to generate some interesting conversation in several forums.  I know the responses certainly caused me to do some more thinking. First, for those [...]

Courage: Learned or Innate?

Over the last couple of years, courage has become more and more interesting to me.  I have come to understand that people move to compassion more easily than they move to courage.  I see a [...]