Winning a championship is hard. Winning multiple championships? Even harder. But what separates the teams that flash greatness from those that build enduring success? Consistency. As the Kansas City Chiefs prepare for their third consecutive Super Bowl appearance (5th in 6th seasons), the conversation around them has shifted. It’s no longer about whether they can …
Category: The Sunday Snippet – good ideas to help you prosper
Overcommitted
It’s easy to get stuck in a cycle of overcommitment. All of us, at one point or another in our careers, have fallen into the trap of saying “yes” more often than we should. However, as Israa Nasir highlights in a recent HBR article, “Why You’re Chronically Overcommitted,” it doesn’t make you more productive or …
Persuasion
The art and science of persuasion is critical for getting anything big done. We need the help and support of others, and charisma alone is not enough to change behaviors, bend wills, or fuel sacrifices. Robert B. Cialdini, the godfather of persuasion studies, has written extensively about the core six principles (and now seven) of …
Unlocking creativity
Creativity is not only a driver of innovation, it’s also a critical ingredient for long-term success in any field. But it’s hard to tap into creativity on cue. The good news? There are ways to summon it when you need it most. As Kathryn Jacob and Sue Unerman note in their Harvard Business Review article, “To Jumpstart …
Execution
Having a great strategy means nothing if you can’t execute it. All the planning, proformas, and polite discussions will get you nowhere without steady progress and consistent execution. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic and Darko Lovric explain why most companies struggle to bridge the gap between big ideas and real-world results in their latest HBR article, “How to …
Skepticism
Being skeptical—questioning, investigating, and processing new information—requires effort, in fact, more than most people are willing to put in. This is why top performers, in any discipline, tend to be more inquisitive and skeptical of what they’re seeing and hearing. They want to know more and confirm truths. They want to test ideas, models, and …
How to hire varsity players – only the best
Great talent is abundant in the marketplace right now. Even the best and the brightest have been furloughed or let go through no fault of their own. And whether you’re trying to decide who to keep or who to hire, you’ve got to be able to test for and recognize great talent – A-players. Because you’re going …
Perfection: don’t let it be the enemy of good enough
Perfectionism is one of the biggest roadblocks to fast and effective decision-making because it operates on flawed all-or-nothing thinking. Perfect isn’t possible and when we try to wait on it, and achieve it, nothing gets done. You can never know everything or anticipate every eventuality. And trying to is paralyzing. So if you can’t achieve perfection, …
Renewal: how to pull yourself out of a valley when you need to
David Brooks was in dire need of renewal in 2013. His marriage was falling apart. He was in the throws of workaholism. His friendships had become shallow and weak. He’d given in to the common lies that society tells us about personal and professional success creating status and happiness. He valued time over people. He valued …
Time: why we should spend more for it
Time poverty – the feeling of not having enough time – is at an all-time high. And this nagging feeling has a profound effect on happiness and productivity. Anxiety and depression go up. Physical health goes down due. Relationships suffer. But research shows that most of us have more discretionary time than ever before. If …