Musings at Altitude

When you’re listening to pitches all day long, what separates: those you want to listen to from those you want to run from those who really seem believable from those who seem suspicious those that nail what they are talking about from those so far out there that you want to laugh those that have […]

As I think back over my career, I’ve been blessed with bosses who put an intimate understanding of the mission as a top priority for me when I joined a new organization.  They felt (some even specifically said) that it was critical for me to know who I was serving and how important my individual […]

Some folks are always right. Others often right. A few are rarely right. And a sad few are never right. The best leaders I have worked for are folks that are often right, but I’ve never worked for someone that was always right. I have worked for several people that were rarely right, and unfortunately, […]

I feel very confident in business meetings when I know the team or know the partners and customers. I feel pretty confident in personal meetings with other business leaders too. But I have lots of insecurities. When I talk in front of a large group of people that I don’t know. When I teach a […]

I’m naturally suspicious of no brainers.  I’ll spend a significant amount of time digging deep, questioning all my assumptions, and rethinking each possible scenario just to try and prove that the no brainer is actually something that may not be so certain after all. Every now and then, my extra effort in due diligence turns […]

Abraham Lincoln is quoted as saying, “If I had eight hours to cut down a tree, I’d spend six sharpening my axe.”  What a great statement about preparation! I was thinking about that this weekend as I spent these past two days in preparation for the week(s) ahead.  And this happens every weekend.  We have […]

“I’ve given my heart and soul to this company.” I’ve heard it a lot over the last several months.  In some cases, it was said by those who were being let go and would no longer be part of that company going forward.  In other cases, it was said by folks struggling to make a […]

I had the fortunate opportunity to meet with several serial and very successful entrepreneurs yesterday.  Each was very different, but each had nuggets of truth that led me to the list below for what any of us need to do in a startup environment: (1) Define – at the very beginning, decide what kind of […]

My son works for the world’s largest corporation.  He came home a couple weeks ago and said, “I’m going to write a book “Life at the Bottom of the World’s Largest Corporation.”  He then spent the next hour or two talking about the ignorance of his managers, the hypocrisy of the corporation itself, and the […]

Have you experienced love in your business environment? That time when members of a team join together in a bond that far transcends the unity in battle that they face on a day to day business basis. That time when partners come together and share a relationship that goes well beyond the trust that is […]