Musings at Altitude

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about team lately. I’ve seen a few great examples. I’ve seen more that weren’t. In all cases, what members of a team want seems very simple – purpose, communications, inclusion, appreciation. It seems like what they want is exactly what they need. Purpose is easy.  Everyone wants a […]

I remember reading “Servant Leadership” over 2 decades ago, and I’m going to pull it out and read it again.  It sure seems its means as much if not more today.  These are times of incredible change, but the one thing that shouldn’t change is a servant minded leadership from those who are being trusted […]

Is it ok to tell someone you LOVE them at work? Is it ok to call your team together and tell them “I LOVE what you did” or “I LOVE you for what you did”? Is it ok to say, “I LOVE this company”? I think I’m guilty of all of these at one time or another. So […]

Scene. Lots of people in a meeting. Long days of powerpoint presentations. Very little engagement and dialogue. Thankfully, some time for questions. People fade in and out. Some get up and walk around the grounds…while the presentations are being made. Others soldier on…listening…engaging…nodding…asking questions…learning. A small percentage try hard to look engaged but work on […]

I’ve been in senior executive positions for 13 years now, and I can’t count the number of times even now that I have to go “huh?” when someone else in an executive role tells me something. I must really be ignorant, because even after they explain to me why something is the way they say […]

My wife has perfected the art of people watching.  She can sense things about people just by watching them that I would never in a million years figure out.  Of course, she’d tell you that even if it was blatantly obvious I’d miss it…because I’m a man…and she may have a point. Recently, in those […]

I’ve had a sinus infection for the last 5 days.  I know that now.  I didn’t think it was that when the sniffles started.  The pounding in the head was a great deterrent to any lengthy thinking or writing.  What little time was there with relief was spent catching up on the endless requests for […]

My car has 233,000 miles on it now. It’s been about as good a car as anyone could ever imagine. Reliable. Dependable. Enduring. Sustaining. Affordable. Enjoyable. Even though nothing has gone wrong, I took it in for it’s major maintenance yesterday. About $2000 worth of routine, scheduled maintenance. That got me thinking. Why don’t we […]

I suck at time management. I sit down at the start of the day and make sure I know my schedule, do my “to do” list, and identify all those I need to contact in that particular day. It never works. I never get through any of the lists…except maybe the schedule…and I often times […]

I flew out of the house this morning, late for an appointment because I was piddling around with things that weren’t necessarily meaningful but certainly time consuming.  As I sped off down the street, I got to the bend in the road and slammed on the brake.  This was crossing in front of me: Three […]