The Hard Thing About Hard Things
The problem with most business books is they present a formula for problems that ultimately have no formula. You’re reading something with no practical value and you’re not really learning …
Leadership
16 Leadership Lessons from a Four Star General
“We like to equate leaders with values we admire, but the two can be separate and distinct.” *** Say what you want about General Stanley McChrystal and the Rolling Stone article that led …
Max Bazerman Offers Books for Leaders
Max Bazerman, the author of the best book on general decision making that I’ve ever read, Judgment in Managerial Decision Making, came out with 7 book recommendations1. I hadn’t heard of …
The Unwritten Rules of Management
William Swanson’s unwritten rules of management is full of pithy advice. Swanson is the former chairman and CEO of Raytheon Company. Originally a part of a presentation to engineers and …
What Can One of The Great Coaches of All Time Teach You About Leadership?
History will judge Bill Belichick as one of the greatest coaches ever. Not just in the NFL, where he coaches the New England Patriots, but in all of sports. He’s also incredibly smart. In his …
Warren Buffett: The Three Things I Look For in a Person
Students often go to visit Warren Buffett. And when they do, he often plays a little game on them. He asks each student to pick a classmate. Not just any classmate, but the classmate you would choose …
Why we Praise Meaningless Jargon and Fail to Realize the Emperor has No Clothes
“The CEO who misleads others in public may eventually mislead himself in private.” — Warren Buffett *** Is there a link between candor and execution? L. J. Rittenhouse thinks so. Rittenhouse is the …
Simplicity’s Best Friend: Small Groups of Smart People
More brains don’t necessarily lead to better ideas. When it came to leading meetings, Steve Jobs had no qualms about tossing the least necessary person out of the room. An excerpt from Insanely …
A Primer on Strategy
There are many good reasons to read Good Strategy Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt. You may be frustrated by the state of your organization’s strategy. You may be interested in identifying the …
An Interview on Leadership with James March
In an illuminating interview published in the Academy of Management Learning and Education, Joel Podolny, then Apple’s HR vice president, spoke with renowned organizational theorist James March. …
The Simple Principles of Good Management
Herbert Simon, Nobel Prize laureate and polymath, offered many contributions to the world in fields such as computer science/artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, economics, and management. …
Leadership Is a Gift Given by Those Who Follow
“Leadership is a gift. It’s given by those who follow. You have to be worthy of it.” —General Mark Welsh *** The video is 50 minutes long, but it might be the finest piece of public …
6 Must-Read Books To Help Navigate the Workplace
The challenges of climbing the corporate ladder are both fascinating and fluid. Whether you’re looking to improve your ability to influence or avoid some common pitfalls these books are a great …
James March: On Leadership
After reading The Ambiguities of Experience, I set out to read another book by James March: On Leadership. The genius of March takes a while to appreciate. I assure you, however, this …
William Deresiewicz on Learning To Lead and the Ills of Exposing Yourself to a Constant Stream of Other People’s Thoughts
William Deresiewicz delivered a stunning lecture on Solitude and Leadership to the United States Military Academy at West Point. In the lecture, Deresiewicz convincingly argues that We don’t …