If you smell smoke, it might mean someone’s pants are on fire. In the last post, I asked you to think about whether or not those smoking pants are yours. After all, we all lie. Sometimes egregiously, sometimes well meaning, but it isn’t the road to Heaven that’s paved by good intentions. So intentions aside, we all lie. By definition, that means that someone at some point is lying to you.  If we are going to have productive business communications, we need to recognize when someone is being less … [Read more...]

We all lie. You know it. I know it, and frankly, the people you’ve lied to also probably know it. Now, there are many degrees of lying. There are those collaborative lies that multiple parties condone, like “everything will be fine” when you know that may not be likely, but it is the concerted lie that you share with someone as a coping mechanism. There’s the ‘polite’ lie: “You look good in that outfit.” There’s my personal favorite, the ‘reflex’ lie which is the disingenuous response to the … [Read more...]

We are all familiar with the famous phrase from The Wizard of Oz, “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” After all, Oz is awesome. So why look at any other image? At some level don’t we all want to be perceived as this omnipotent presence? Wouldn’t that be lovely? And don’t we all feel that magnanimous when we start a new venture or even fall in love? There are those flashes in time where we actually see and believe in the best version of ourselves and for just a moment we buy into … [Read more...]

What is it about the New Year that causes us all to feel obligated to ‘resolve’ to be better that somehow escapes us on the other 364 days of the year? The reality is that the New Year is just another day that ends in ‘y.’  Yet, somehow the flipping of the calendar to a New Year lights some sort of beacon summoning home the Prodigal Son. So we will all spend a few weeks making quasi-earnest attempts to be better only to fall back into our pathetic abyss where we once again flog ourselves for not … [Read more...]

        Management is hard, and we could all stand to do it better. Those of you who listen to the radio show know that I am not shy about mocking the bad managers of the business world and describe them as ‘dinosaurs,’ ‘heads in the sand,’ and ‘the walking dead’ in a derogatory and judgmental manner. I’ve even had occasion to be less than diplomatic by calling bad leaders ‘ignorant bastards.’ Too many leaders and managers are genuinely terrible at their job. … [Read more...]

Ok, men, zip up your pants and put away the rulers. Women, put away the mirrors…you are all pretty. I beg of you to leave your egos & politics at the door. When we talk about value, it is hard to leave those things behind. Self-absorption and hubris will insidiously nag and bully you to burn the value you’ve worked so hard to build to the ground, and you won’t even know it until the dust clears. What is something worth? Getting this answer right is the essence of making money and generating … [Read more...]

Years ago, when I was an analyst with Booz Allen, I recall being in a meeting with an impassioned client engaging in a heated discussion with our enervated team. The senior partner sat back and listened for a bit and then just stood up, put his hand firmly on the table inducing a perplexed silence. He simply asked, “Why are we all here?...We are here to make money!” This poignant epiphany brought everyone out of the minutia and back into a productive discussion about the opportunity being … [Read more...]