The run-up, the hype, the media coverage has been almost unprecedented.  People have been talking about it for months. The media is ready.  Apparently, the viewers are ready. And tomorrow, people around the world will be glued to their televisions, attending viewing parties, and putting their lives on hold to watch one wedding in London. Yep,

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My daughter is 12. Last Christmas she got her first laptop, and last Sunday she got her first cell phone. These are perhaps the first two tools new employees receive after getting their employee handbook.  These tools are incredibly valuable, and have been (along with other technologies) responsible for huge gains in productivity over the

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Earlier this week I wrote a post stating that leaders should have a closed door policy.  This post has created lots of conversation – I have received a number of emails, had personal conversations and several people wrote lengthy comments on the blog post as well. I’ll admit I used the “closed door” metaphor to

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On May 6, 1954 Roger Bannister set a new world record, as the first to break  the four minute barrier for one mile – running it in 3:59.4 (the current record is 3:43.13).  While the common myth says that people didn’t think the 4 minute barrier was physically possible, the reality is it was a barrier

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Last week Becky Robinson, my crack Social Marketing Director alerted me that I was about to write my 500th blog post on this blog. Her comment was that I should write a post commemorating it. Which I am (right now). Except that, due to me writing some other stuff in the interim, this post, that was supposed to

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Voltaire is attributed with the aphorism “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” You’ve heard others say, “Ready, fire, aim.” I say, “Messy success is better than perfect mediocrity.” And while you may be nodding your head in agreement with one or more of these statements, it doesn’t take long to think, “yes, but what about

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This week’s Resource Recommendation is Rainmaking Conversations: Influence, Persuade, and Sell in Any Situation by Mike Schultz and John E. Doerr. As a business owner, responsible for many rainmaking conversations, this book struck a chord with me before I even opened it. Since this is an area I always want to improve in, I opened

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Let’s start with a short thinking exercise . . . Think of every new leader speech you have ever heard.  They will all include “I have an open door policy.”  Does every leader truly practice that policy? If you made a list of leadership clichés, the “open door policy” would likely make the top ten.

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Over the last couple weeks you have heard about it – the unfortunate incidents of air traffic controllers falling asleep on their overnight shifts. First, let me say this is clearly a situation no one wants to happen – not the flying public, not the FAA, and not the individual controllers.  This is a safety

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