“You can observe a lot just by watching,” said Yogi Berra, one of the great thinkers of our time. Your team is watching you all the time. Yes, your employees are messaging each other about your mood. They observe you because you have power over … [Read more...] about Yogi Berra was right
You’re a meat puppet. And that’s OK.
Stepping into a C-level role is a massive undertaking. You already know that – every aspect of the business depends on you. In fact, leadership is so demanding that one vital, subtle thing may not be on your radar screen. You are playing a … [Read more...] about You’re a meat puppet. And that’s OK.
Featherbedding
Layering is not just good advice for surviving a San Francisco summer, but also a great way to communicate complex concepts to your target audiences. In the early days of the David Letterman show, they would take things up to the studio roof and … [Read more...] about Featherbedding
Untangling
Sometimes communicating can be complicated and torturous because you don’t realize you’re talking about two things at once. For example, you’re having an ongoing heated conversation with a colleague about whether you should do the sales dinner in … [Read more...] about Untangling
Inch along
Communicating complex concepts to people who may not want to hear them is tough. See last week’s post for great advice from Neil deGrasse Tyson on that. It can be just as hard to communicate complex material to people who do want to hear it. How … [Read more...] about Inch along
It’s complicated
People ask me all the time how to communicate complex issues to people they must persuade – like their bosses, juries, etc. It’s always challenging to communicate to an audience who has limited attention and perhaps less intellectual horsepower than … [Read more...] about It’s complicated
Creating a culture
June is Debugging Teams month on poseyblog. In this great book written to help engineers and other creators build soft skills, Brian Fitzpatrick and Ben Collins-Sussman spend a lot of time on creating and maintaining a culture. Fitz and Ben say, … [Read more...] about Creating a culture
Read Debugging Teams!
My new favorite book is Debugging Teams by Brian Fitzpatrick and Ben Collins-Sussman, two engineers who are deeply converted to the importance of communication and collaboration. Here’s their opening epigram, from Bill Coughran: “Engineering is easy. … [Read more...] about Read Debugging Teams!
Be a human.
You are a person who is motivated by strong core values. You are a person who’s so deeply interested in something that you’ve immersed yourself in it for years. You are a person who’s been through triumphs and mistakes like everyone else who’s alive. … [Read more...] about Be a human.
You can control one thing in a media interview
“Focusing exclusively on what is in our power magnifies and enhances our power,” says Ryan Holiday in The Obstacle is the Way. This isn’t just great advice for business strategy! This is great advice for media interviews! When you sit down with … [Read more...] about You can control one thing in a media interview
