Let’s cut to the chase. Managing and leading are not the same thing. Leaders move people to move a mission, while managers control what can be controlled to get predictable results. Managers believe in being productive, while leaders believe in being effective.  The difficulty comes when managers try to control people because people can’t be … Continue reading In the age-old battle between management and leadership, the difference is service. 

I’ve said it a million times: the purpose of business is to help people, and that should be its priority. Unfortunately, too many have been misguided to think profit is the purpose. This is similar to the way many people see education. They make school about grades instead of learning. Grades, like profit, are outcomes, … Continue reading Is your business focused on grades or learning?

Compassion. We typically hear that word in terms that make it sound soft or weak. However, not only is compassion not weak, it is a powerful force for good and a crucial skill for success. We are constantly being told to be tough, to hustle, and to grind, so compassion gets pushed aside, yet compassion … Continue reading The Most Underrated Skill of Our Time

It’s not about you. It’s just not. In fact, in our long human history, it has rarely been about singular personalities. Rather, it has almost always been about groups, families, tribes, or organizations. But what is “it”? “It” refers to what ultimately matters being focused on an individual, as in “what is most important here … Continue reading Success is a healthy ecosystem.

Umbrellas. We all use them. We all fight with them.  At best, the umbrella is a “good enough” device. It works when it wants to, and when it doesn’t, it won’t open, or the wind turns it backward, or the fabric comes loose on one of the spines. It’s “good enough,” and we have lived … Continue reading “Good enough.” Could this be where making a difference lives?

Imagine you’re on that ill-fated maiden voyage of the Titanic. An iceberg rips through the hull, and the ship is going down. There are more passengers than lifeboats. Decisions must be made—tough decisions about who will live and who will surely die.  Now imagine a crew member pushing some people overboard in order to open … Continue reading The Worst Harm Businesses Do. There’s an Opportunity There.

In our industrial economy, it seems efficiency is regularly sparring with quality.  Let’s look at our contestants. Efficiency focuses on production. Quality focuses on value.  Efficiency’s priority is what is best for those who deliver. Quality’s is what’s best for those being served.  Efficiency emphasizes doing things faster and cheaper. Quality emphasizes doing the right … Continue reading Efficiency or quality?

I went on a trip where I saw—or at minimum, it appeared like—true service.  True service is where the person delivering wants to help rather than just doing it because they have to. It’s the difference between getting a birthday gift with some thought—and feeling—behind it and getting one that is a cold obligation. The … Continue reading True Service Versus the Placebo

I read this the other day: “Only 50% of working people feel they’re doing meaningful work.” Sad. It means 50% of people go off to work every day thinking the work they spend so much time doing is pointless in the grand scheme of things. We hear a lot of talk about meaningful work and … Continue reading Meaningful work!?

In the movie Annie Hall, there’s a great scene where Woody Allen and Dianne Keaton are sitting on a park bench making funny comments about passersby. It’s people watching, and it got me thinking. My wife and I people-watch, but unlike Allen and Keaton, we don’t so much comment as wonder.  I wonder where they … Continue reading Wonder