Has it ever occurred to you that not only are you not doing a good job at work, but maybe you are actually making things worse? I think it’s a really good question to ask yourself, especially if you’re a manager. The answer might not be so obvious.
Bruce Lee. Legendary Kung Fu master, martial artist, actor, philosopher, author, and one of my idols. He is perhaps best known for pioneering the martial arts style called Jeet Kune Do. An update to my post about describing My leadership style.
Hubris slays another Ancient Greek. "Pride comes before the fall," says the bible. Gatsby was ruined by his own opulence and swagger. People have been warning other people through stories to stay humble for a long long time now.
How do middle class people of the developed world keep the edge, work ethic, and values their immigrant ancestors had? How do we develop mental toughness?
Those fundamental principles that lead to sound business management: Demma’s 4 P's. A meaningful framework for doing the job of management effectively.
This month my company featured me on our portal in a blog-style interview. I thought I'd share since I haven't posted much about work lately. Here you go: Get to Know John Demma We all share common goals, but rarely do we have an opportunity to share a cup of coffee and break the ice. Yet, studies show … Continue reading Get to Know Me, From My Company’s Portal Blog
You may have heard someone say that expense savings go right to the "bottom line". What does that mean? What is the bottom line anyway? For a business, the last line on the income statement is net income. Income statements are one of the core financial reports for a business (along with balance sheets and … Continue reading Expense Savings Go Right to the Bottom Line
That's a picture of a cute little clownfish, we'll call him Remo, swimming among sea anemone. Most fish would not be feeling too good right now, because those cool looking tentacles of the anemone are laced with stinging poison. Good thing Remo's ancestors evolved a thin layer of mucus that protects him from the poison. … Continue reading Management Skills: Create Symbiosis
About a year ago, I wrote this post about how to articulate my/your leadership style. Thanks to Google, this has become my all time most viewed post with over 1,000 views. Today I'm writing about how my leadership style has evolved over the years. I think. Either that or it's a coming of age post. … Continue reading Leadership Style: Fake it till you make it
I swore I wasn't going to be one of those parents who would toss empty threats at their kids to try to coerce them into good behavior. You know the old, "If you don't stop I swear we're not going to the park," routine. I can hear my son thinking, "Who you kidding dad? The … Continue reading Management Skills: Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick
Getting into shape is a good business decision. And this isn't one of my weird and abstract metaphor posts that's really about mental fitness or business fitness or something. This post is about why I think maintaining physical fitness is important for managers. First, a bit of background on my health. I slowly gained about … Continue reading Management Skills: Be Fit
Jack and I watched this movie called Tortuga, about an adorable sea turtle's journey from birth through adulthood. The movie starts on a beach where adult female sea turtles have dug hundreds of nests in the sand, each containing up to two-hundred eggs. Thousands of eggs simultaneously hatch. The infant turtles instinctively dash for the … Continue reading Not All the Turtles Make it to the Sea
So you didn't turn out to be a doctor or a lawyer. Your parents must be so disappointed. Just tell them to chill out. There's still hope for a long, progressive, and lucrative career that doesn't require any specialized schooling or hundreds of thousands of dollars of student loan debt. This USA today article listed … Continue reading How to Become A Manager
The first and biggest challenge for any new manager is finding the right balance between being a good people manager and an effective task manager.
When I was a boy a family friend told me, "You get more flies with honey, kid." I used to hear that saying a lot as a boy because my resting facial expression has always looked like an angry sour-puss. I can't help it. Being nice is something I've had to work on. Smiling was … Continue reading Management Skills: Be Nice
