Articles
Here are the recent articles I wrote for BRAINZ.
01
Time For A Pronoun Paradigm Shift?
During a recent large online meeting, I felt different. Like I didn’t get the memo saying: “Post pronouns beside your name.” If all those talented Harvard alumni women posted their pronouns, I should too, right? Me2.
02
Top Ways Leaders Manage Conflict And Reduce the Cortisol-Related Stress Response
Nested within a wide circle of family, colleagues, and community systems, we humans find health, happiness, and meaningful purpose. And sometimes, friction.
03
It's All In Your Head – Cultivating Conscious Conversations
When you inaccurately imagine something, “It’s all in your head.” It’s also what the car mechanic thinks when you complain about that clicking sound that mysteriously disappears during the inspection.
04
What’s Worse? Scary Movie 3 Or “We Have To Talk”?
Does “We Have to Talk” trigger an inner primal scream? Perhaps you’ve heard these ominous 4-words from...
- The Boss: “I have some feedback”
- A Partner: “It’s me, not you”
- Garage Mechanic: “It’s the transmission”
- Child's teacher: “About their behavior”
05
Do You Have A Clearing Disorder?
Have you ever complained about busy work distracting you from strategic, high-impact projects and planning? You’re not alone!
06
Silence Your Perfectionista
Did you get all that? If English is your native language, most likely you understood it, errors and all. Spelling mistakes did not materially impact the outcome.
Decoding culture secrets
I asked my adult son to explain the cultural difference between working at Meta (formerly Facebook) and his military experience.
He hates it when I fish for company secrets so all I got was, "I don't know what you mean by culture. You spent too much time in Spain."
So, I explain based on my experience in talent management...
"Corporate culture is like a salad. From the outside, it's just lettuce. But, once you're working there, you find nuts and surprises hidden at the bottom!"
That merited a laugh, but still no top-secret recipes on company culture.
Then I showed him a clip from comedian David Letterman's Best Hits.
After GE acquired The Late Night Show, Letterman filmed the legendary GE handshake. (Wait for it in slow motion).
Just as GE had its unique handshake, every family, team, and company has an acquired pattern and personality - a culture.
Cultures can be fun, stiff, innovative, even weird.
Want to decipher the culture of your team?
Here are two targeted questions to ask. (I learned from the late culture expert Edgar Schein).
Ask them to finish this sentence...
Around here, it's okay to...
Around here, it's not okay to...
Culture is Indirect Work. Culture is power and as Peter Drucker said...
Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast
