Perspectives
Beware of the Trap
If you don't have goals for yourself, someone else will make some up for you. That's the trap. Whether it's your parents, your spouse or your boss, others around you have goals and their best way of accomplishing these goals is to co-opt you into fulfilling them....
Do you have any inspirational goals for next year?
Well, December is upon us and I'm trying to figure out some goals for next year. No doubt you're trying to do the same. To give you some inspiration I have included a TED Talk that I thought might inspire you. If you get this blog in an email, click on the blog link...
The link between leadership and growth
I've been playing with metrics for the last week, trying to find ways to measure the link between leadership and growth in a company. This article by Bain and Company shows one clear part of the link and demonstrates a powerful metric to be used in measuring client...
Out of the mouths of babes
A friend of mine told me a story yesterday about his 6 year old son. Last year in school his son had been the master of rebellion, not doing what the teacher asked, not lining up and holding the rope when out for a walk. A positive James Dean in the making. This year,...
Shut up and listen – for Passion
Another great TED Talk. It goes back to the issue of passion, my hobbyhorse of a few weeks ago.
Process versus Bureaucracy
Random thought for the day. Many people get the concepts of process and bureacracy confused. They think that adding process is making an organization more bureaucratic. This really isn't so. What process does is allow you to delegate decision making down to the lowest...
Does growth kill corporate culture?
It's funny but when you look at early stage companies, they all seem to have a strong corporate culture. When you look at them again several years later after much growth, the original culture has usually died and been replaced by another less appealing one. What's...
Would you know it if you stank?
Perhaps if you're in a relationship your partner will tell you nicely that you smell. But will your direct reports tell you that you're a lousy leader? There are times I feel like I'm trying to sell deodorant to people who don't know they smell. While the rest of the...
Is a lack of business passion stunting Canada’s innovation economy?
I promise I'll get off this Passion soapbox next week. Meanwhile, just one last post in the series. For a long time, I've been trying to figure out reasons why Canada's innovation economy may be under performing that of the US. Someday someone smarter than me will...