It’s 2012 – Time to Stop Kicking the Dog
Results through others – it is a simple concept of few words. It ought to be easier and more satisfying. Yet the inherent challenges cause both metaphorical and literal dogs to get kicked daily. Some call it leadership. Some call it management. It is a unique alchemy that moves seamlessly from one to the other at any point in time on any day. Some believe that at a granular level, leadership is about people and management about stuff. To achieve results through others requires both. I like the term Leader as the catchall word to define the work of being the person in charge, the boss, the...
read moreArch Day 2011
Seventy years ago Dad was seriously wounded in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Another sailor, Tommy Thompson saved his life that day. He recovered and went on to fight the air war in the Pacific aboard PBY’s as a Crew Chief. His war time experiences did not totally define him but they were a big part of who he was. He has been gone for nine years. He always recognized December 7th and I learned to also. Dad was fiercely independent so he became an entrepreneur. He started three businesses one of which has been operating for forty years now and is still in the family. There were things...
read moreBoomtown #2 – A Different Work Ethic
Day labor is a way of living for some people. While in Minot and Williston, North Dakota I talked one morning with some good people who manage Command Center Staffing. They dispatch around 100 people a day to a variety of service and labor positions where employers need a worker or more for a day or more, but not permanently. These people work when they want to or need to. Some want a permanent job and some don’t. Some get permanent jobs. Some don’t. Some have the characteristics of a solid permanent employee. Some don’t. I heard the story of an 11 year old girl who...
read moreBoomtown #1
Bakken Shale – Williston, North Dakota - Boomtown. You’ve read about it in WSJ, Seen it on CNN. and in National Geographic. It is a “Eureka” sort of reality for hearty souls and pioneering entrepreneurs. Together with similar geology in Pennsylvania and Texas, a part of the solution to US dependence on foreign oil even though some environmentalists beg to differ. For laborers and skilled trades people it is opportunity to work for crazy wages. Three weeks on and a week off. Straight time $60/hr for a Cat operator. New man camps are being set-up daily with mobile...
read moreSteve Jobs on quality and other things
With Steve Jobs announcing his step down from the top of Apple the media is full of stories about him, his contributions, history and view of things. This from the WSJ listing of favorite Steve jobs quotes: When you’re a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You’ll know it’s there, so you’re going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through.” [Playboy, Feb. 1,...
read moreIt ends here
It is ironic how bad behavior transcends generations in families. It also does so in management. Absent any formal training and development people learn to be managers and leaders based on experiences being managed & led. Some of it is good, valuable, and makes our lives as leaders easier and more satisfying. Other habits, styles and behaviors are counter productive and some down right wrong. Strong self awareness is a characteristic of the the most effective leaders, top floor to shop floor. Take fifteen minutes for a deliberate “look in the mirror.” While this two-step may...
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