The Problem With Always Being Right
The Problem With Always Being Right I Was Right. And That Was The Problem. There is a feeling that comes with being certain. You’ve done the research. You’ve thought it through. You’ve built the argument. You know where you stand. For a long time, I thought that was part of being a good leader. Be […]
I Wasn’t Ready. I Went Anyway.
I Wasn’t Ready. I Went Anyway. Say Yes Before You Feel Ready I still remember the rooms I walked into where I wasn’t sure I belonged. Everyone seemed more experienced. More polished. More connected. More prepared. There were moments I wondered if someone had made a mistake inviting me. Looking back, some of the most […]
The Advice I Followed for 30 Years Was Wrong
The Advice I Followed for 30 Years Was Wrong There’s a piece of career advice a lot of us grew up hearing: Keep your head down. Work hard. Do good work. Eventually, people will notice. I believed that for a long time. And to be fair, there’s nothing wrong with working hard. I’ve spent […]
The Person Behind the Number
The Person Behind the Number Last weekend, my family was out exploring and ended up at LongHorn Steakhouse for dinner. Our server was completely on point. Poised, confident, present. Not an easy task with our table: two young kids with very particular orders, my wife’s indecision, and my own dietary restrictions. She nailed it. She […]
The Answer Wasn’t in the Spreadsheet
The Answer Wasn’t in the Spreadsheet One of the habits I’ve developed over the years is to experience the organizations I work with from the other side. I don’t just want to see the customer journey on a slide or look at a dashboard that tells me everything is working. I want to actually […]
Why Dolly Parton Mattered
Why Dolly Parton Mattered Dolly Parton died on August 25, at 80, after a brief fight with cancer. And I think we may have just lost one of the last people in America who was genuinely, almost universally, worth holding up as someone we could all admire. That feels particularly significant right now. A […]
Why MySpace Hit a Nerve
Why MySpace Hit a Nerve A couple weeks ago, my daughter asked me about MySpace. She’s thirteen, so MySpace isn’t nostalgia for her. It’s not a place she logged into after school, customized poorly, or showcased a profile song that felt like a personal statement of identity. To her it sounds almost mythical. A messier, […]