When our kids were little, Mr. People Equation and I sometimes gave them “timeouts”. One thing we quickly discovered is that effective timeouts weren’t about punishment. Instead, timeouts helped our kids figure out when they had crossed a boundary that wasn’t OK to cross. When the Miller kiddos were very young, the boundaries were very…
Lessons in Project Failure from Brad Pitt
It takes courage to admit that a project is tanking. Even for big-shot movie stars. When Brad Pitt saw the first cut of his newly released film World War Z, the final third act of the movie was, in his words, “just atrocious” according a USA Today interview. What Pitt said next in the interview…
Zen of Jen – I Have All the Time I Need
This is the first in a new series on my blog called “Zen of Jen”, in which I’ll share ideas for helping you maintain a sense of calm in your crazy work world. Hat tip to Dan McCarthy of the Great Leadership blog – whose comment in an email sparked this idea. Thanks, Dan! The…
7 Signs You’re Hoarding Your Team’s Talent
As an advisor to people in senior management roles, I’ve noticed a key distinction between mediocre and exemplary leaders: the best leaders don’t hoard their talent. Over at Smartblog on Leadership, I explore the organizational benefits of leaders who have an abundance mindset regarding career development. What’s a talent hoarder? Just as a pack-rat hoards…
How I Work – The People Equation Edition
Sharlyn Lauby of the HR Bartender blog has challenged her colleagues to complete the following list of questions related to how I organize my work day. You can see the origins of the How I Work series on Sharlyn’s blog. This is an interesting exercise. Although I thought I’d breeze right through, it took me…