Uncategorized
-
It Was About This Time Every Year That I’d Pop My Head Up and Realize: I Hadn’t Done Any of It
It was about this time every year — late April, early May — that I’d pop my head up. Take a deep breath. Anticipate the summer break coming. And look back at the first four months of the year to see how I was doing against the goals I’d set for myself in January. Kind…
-
I Thought I Was Being a Good Leader. I Was Just Resetting Everyone’s Brain Every 17 Minutes.
What a Q&A question at the NYSBA webinar taught me about who was actually creating the problem I was wrapping up a webinar for the New York State Bar Association last week — about 133 attorneys on the line, good energy, solid program — when a question came in that stopped me mid-answer. Someone was…
-
He Came Back After Five Years. Said He Was Ready. Then Needed to Talk to His Bookkeeper. That Was Two Months Ago.
Five years ago, a guy called me. We had a good conversation. He seemed interested. Understood the value. Said he’d think about it and get back to me. Five years went by. Then last month, out of nowhere, he called back. “I’ve been thinking about this. I’m ready. I want to get started.” Okay! Great!…
-
They Said “I Hear You, But…” Five Times…
I explained something to a colleague. Clearly. Logically. With data to back it up. They looked at me and said: “I hear you, but I’m just not comfortable with it.” So I thought: Maybe I wasn’t clear enough. And I explained it again. With more detail. More examples. Better analogies. “I hear you, but…” I…
-
I Thought Being Indispensable Was Job Security (Turns Out I Was Just the Bottleneck)
I read an article last week that made me laugh and cringe at the same time. An entrepreneur wrote about his top engineer. He’d swooped in to fix a systems failure. Thought he was being helpful. Saving the day. She looked at him and said: “You know I could have figured that out, right?” She…
-
I Used to Think Every Problem Was Mine to Solve (Spoiler: They Weren’t)
I had a problem. Actually, I had about 47 problems. But they weren’t MY problems. They were everyone else’s problems that I’d decided were mine. The Problem-Solving Addict I was really good at spotting problems. Like, REALLY good. I could walk into a meeting and within 30 seconds identify:• What wasn’t working• Why it wasn’t…
-
You Don’t Need the Perfect Plan – You Need an Imperfect First Step
Tom was stuck. For two years, he’d been thinking about succession. He knew he needed to start the conversation with his top associate. He knew time was passing. He knew waiting made it harder. But he couldn’t start. Not because he didn’t know what to do. Because he didn’t know what to do PERFECTLY. The…
-
When “Just One More Year” Becomes Five Years
I had a conversation this week with a managing partner I’d talked to five years ago. Five years ago, he reached out. His firm was in crisis. Associates were leaving. Senior partners were retiring. He had too many files and not enough systems to handle them. He knew he needed help. We had a good…
-
When “Just One More Year” Becomes Five Years
I had a conversation this week with a managing partner I’d talked to five years ago. Five years ago, he reached out. His firm was in crisis. Associates were leaving. Senior partners were retiring. He had too many files and not enough systems to handle them. He knew he needed help. We had a good…