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 […]
Management Skills: Create Symbiosis
Modern Machiavelli: How to be a 21st century prince without selling your soul
Is it better to be feared or loved? Do the ends justify the means? Is all fair in business and politics? Machiavelli says, “Yes.” You may have heard of the book The […]
We All Know About the Same: Nothing
I’m a fraud and so are you. We run around pretending we know a thing or two about a thing or two. And we’re surround by all of these experts on subjects […]
Strategy: Cortez the Killer
In 1519 Hernán Cortés the Conquistador led a flotilla of 11 ships to the eastern shores of Mexico against the direct orders of his superiors. You see, power and hubris had driven […]
Leadership Style: Fake it till you make it
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 […]
Real World, Fake World: How to be a successful manager, leader, and person
As I detailed in this kind of weird article, the work world is not the real world. Work is a made up place, work hierarchies are made up things, and there’s really […]
It’s Only Work
Not only is business management my vocation, it’s also my avocation. In my free time I write this blog, manage two three-family investment houses, and help with two companies as an unpaid […]
Management Skills: Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick
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 […]
Management Skills: Be Fit
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 […]
Not All the Turtles Make it to the Sea
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 […]
Should I Get an MBA?
One sunny summer day, when I was 25, I was driving along the Massachusetts Turnpike between stores, and, from no where, an idea popped into my head. Freshly promoted that July, I […]
How to Become A Manager
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 […]
Work Marathons
Sometimes you need to work more than five days in a row. What are you going to do, cry about it? It happens often in retail and hospitality, especially around holidays or […]
The Best Books For Managers
I’ve been kicked out of my home office. Again. First my son was born, and he stole it, and now my soon-to-be daughter is stealing my office. Last week I painted my […]
Thinking About Your Leadership Shadow
I attended a meeting today where an executive urged us to think about our “leadership shadow.” It’s a neat phrase. Got me thinking. This exec went on and asked us to think […]