A few years ago, I wrote a piece dedicated to the dangers of starting sentences with “to be honest,” and I still think it’s not the best choice. However, there’s a point I’d like to emphasize, because it’s buried at the end of that post: Look out for judging others who start their points with … Read more
A few years ago, I shared a vivid phrase to describe being passive-aggressive: “Violently polite.” I think it holds up, but I had forgotten about it. I’m glad for the chance to revisit this. In the years since then, I’ve been more likely to focus on “toxic positivity,” which is NOT the same thing. Toxic … Read more
A few years ago in a post titled “Strong Team Members Hold Each Other Accountable,” I wrote that once people get in the habit of holding each other accountable without making it personal, teams hum with productivity and gossip is diminished. Does it hold up? Accountability will always hold up. But in the original piece, … Read more
A few years ago, I wrote in Healthy Conflict Leads to Commitment that great teams can expect commitment when trust is solid and conflict is productive. Today, I want to emphasize that commitment has two other important components: clarity and buy-in. I think at the time I wrote the original post, I was looking harder … Read more
In a post I wrote called “Leaders Make Sure Results Match the Mission,” I shared Gino Wickman’s approach, presented clearly in the book Traction, called the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS). I noted that measuring results against the mission is important to do on a regular basis. I’m not an official EOS implementer — those are … Read more
A few years ago, I wrote that great teams embrace healthy conflict. Does it hold up? Yes, the “healthy conflict” approach holds up. Teams still suffer from lack of productive conflict and healthy debate. There’s a lot of “sparing feelings,” and this extends into remote relationships, too; maybe even more so. The daily casual interactions … Read more
Seven years ago I wrote about what to do when you hit “send” on an email while in an agitated or emotional state, and then immediately regret it: How to Dial Back the Hasty Email Does this still happen? Unfortunately, yes. Does the advice hold up? Not quite, although I’d still handle the example situation … Read more
~ Alan Seven years ago I shared the technique of conducting a “Vote One to Five” in situations where you’re short on time but need to check a team’s response to an idea, action item or new direction. You can read the specifics of the technique here: Leaders Use This Quick Buy-In Check For Teams Not … Read more
Seven years ago, I wrote about “the two kinds of naysayers” in a post titled: Leaders Know the Two Kinds of Naysayers. I wrote this because I was seeing a lot of leaders miss out on two things: 1) their power to make a difference, and 2) their responsibility to be a steward of their … Read more
You may have heard me talk in the past — or recently — about The Four Levels of Maturity model. I’ve been talking about it for a long time, because it holds up! In a nutshell: Level 4 is the generous level where problem solving takes place and self-awareness is the highest. Level 3, which … Read more