Reading people is a key skill for executives. One question leaders often have is how to effectively manage people who are doing work you haven’t done. If you’re a VP of engineering, you generally have a good sense of what the engineers under you are doing; even if you’re not coding every day, you understand…
Author: admin
Want to learn about people’s deep fears?
Want to learn about people’s deep fears? Listen to what they accuse other people of. Projection is human. Our brains assume that everybody else is exactly like us. When somebody accuses you of something that feels awful, they are rarely talking about you; they are projecting their own shadow onto you. Once you learn this…
They’re doing the best they can.
They’re doing the best they can. How often do we hold people to a higher standard than that? “They should know better” or “they should be acting this way” is far more common, particularly for managers and company leaders That’s understandable! With greater power comes greater responsibility, so we’d like them to be better. But…
Treat it like a tantrum.
Treat it like a tantrum. I have two young kids, so I am learning to deal with tantrums. The key is for me to realize that their tantrum is not about me – they are expressing their big feelings about the situation. When I take it personally as an indictment on my parenting, I get…
What does it take to be sustainably productive?
What does it take to be sustainably productive? A lot of my clients are high achievers who are driven to be productive and have impact. They are ambitious and competitive, and often refuse to stop working until all the work is done. These are great traits…until they reach a point in their career when there…