Tag Archives: self-discipline

April 10

Attitude is Every Day

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For those of you who just took a chewing from the boss, or experienced a spectacular fail, or got crushed under a huge Rock Of Unrealistically High Expectations, coming in to work the next day (or the next minute, depending on the circumstances) can be an ordeal.  Sometimes, it’s even worse if you have had […]

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March 23

Entitlement and Leadership

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The cliché of the executive washroom to which the entitled Chief Executive dispenses access like cash is a staple of many of the Reagan-era Hollywood depictions of the corporate leader. It was (then) a perfect description of how those outside the boardroom viewed life inside. It definitely was the kind of image that was likely to strike […]

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March 16

The Power of Perception

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The late Steven Covey has long been considered one of the more important voices in the self-help genre over the past few decades.  His signature work, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, was first published in 1989 and has sold over 15 million copies in 38 languages.  These numbers suggest that Dr. Covey’s observations […]

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February 14

Captain Miller’s Rule – Gripes Go Up

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War movies are sort of a cliche for finding leadership material.  For one, they are not everyone’s favorite genre’, so a respectable portion of aspirant leaders may not read any farther when someone starts quoting their favorite scenes. On the other hand, the topic of leadership is something endemic to the military, especially due to the […]

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November 03

When Does The Learning Stop?

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While preparing for this post, I ran across a factoid (published by the Jenkins group, a private book publisher) that boggled the mind (or at least mine). According to Jenkins, 42% of college graduates never read a book again, ever. Um…wow.  That’s even worse than the 30% of high school graduates who follow the same […]

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Does Management Even Matter? – Leading Your Organization

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A recent piece in Slate caught my attention and seems ripe for discussion and comment. An article by Fisman and Sullivan praised the New York Passport Agency as a model of efficiency, and says the operation is in the “vanguard of workplace effectiveness”. The part that seemed out of place was that they were praising a government agency, where […]

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Up The Lazy River – Leading Others

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The Economist recently published a blog post with a theme sure to warm the hearts of anyone who recently shelled out some coin for the latest management treatise that screamed out the need to cram 25 hours into the day and simply work your competition into the ground. “In praise of laziness” takes to task the […]

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Is the Interview Started? – Leading Self

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The point at which you make a decision to attempt to advance your position in your current job can come at many points.  It may have been when you were first considering joining an organization in the first place.  It may have been after you started (at the bottom) and having put in some time and […]

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Leading Self – “Whom Do I Lead? – Part I”

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John Maxwell has noted that one of the most important things you can do, as a leader, is to learn to lead yourself. As we continue to look at the answer to the previous question “Who Do I Lead”, I suggest that the first, most simple answer is, …you. Maxwell created the “Mirror Principle” to […]

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