Paying Criminals Not to Get Caught?

At the US Open in 1925, golfer Bobby Jones called a penalty on himself, a penalty that no one saw. That one stroke caused him to lose the tournament.  When people began to praise him for his…

Leadership Behaviors: An Introduction

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, then you are a leader.” —John Quincy Adams   It has been almost a decade since Measure of a Leader was published yet…

Get Outta My Head

Have you ever had someone perceive you to be a certain way as if they know what you’re thinking? I just received an invitation to a webinar that teaches managers to read people’s minds.  What a…

Standing Up for Ethics

In the ABC series, What Would You Do? host John Quiñones places ordinary folks in situations that force them to make tough, ethical decisions. Will they step in when someone is being mistreated? If a…

Too Much Praise? Don’t Believe What You Read

Every day I read, see or hear something that drives me crazy. The latest is the headline on a piece that’s circulating the news outlets, “Too Much Praise Can Turn Your Kids into Narcissistic Jerks,…

Measurement: Friend or Foe?

It seems that the world is becoming obsessed with measurement.  We are measuring steps, heart rate, calories, sleep—you name it and there is a device to measure it. People are going to waste a…

Holiday Thoughts from Mr. Sam Walton

The following is a copy of an actual letter sent by Sam Walton of Wal-Mart to his managers. It was sent to me by an impassioned client who wanted to thank us for bringing the science of behavior into…

Mistakes Companies Make when End-of-Year Approaches

About this time of year, leaders and managers begin the ritual, asking themselves, “Have I met my goals for the year? Have I used up my budget? Am I prepared to declare my needs and wants for…

13 Things that Scare the Devil Out of Me, Revisited

A few years ago I created my own bewitching list of things that scared me.  I have dusted off that list and provided an updated view of my top thirteen frightening things.  I’m afraid to…

Don’t Ask for a Raise, Part 2: Reality Check

I’m glad to see this topic and the ideas I have shared recently have created such a response.  Let me start by saying that I’m not naïve to think that your circumstances will be such that you…

Deliberate Practice Misunderstood: Will Bad Practice Make You Better?

It shouldn't come as a surprise to me that the topic of deliberate practice continues to find its way into the headlines. As a matter of fact, one of my most-read articles is one questioning Dr.…

4 Secrets to Leading Change When Your Company Is Already Successful

It’s no secret: Many successful businesses are slow to change. There are hundreds of examples in which corporations have rejected ideas and products that have been left to entrepreneurs to make…

When Companies Suffer from CEOpathy

The antivirus company Symantec seems to have been infected by its own virus — what I call CEOpathy. In March 2014, the security company fired its CEO for the second time in two years. And,…

Why GE’s Talent-Review System’s Secret Ingredient is Still a Secret

Raghu Krishnamoorthy, a vice president at GE, recently wrote an HBR-Online article about GE’s secret ingredient to its purported Talent-Review System.  One can assume by reading the comments on…

Leveraging the 4:1 Ratio—In Sports and in Business

It’s built into what we do with our clients, in understanding and applying the science of behavior.  While it may not seem revolutionary, correctly applying the 4:1 Ratio matters and does affect…

Don’t Blame Employees for Lack of Effort—Managers Hold the Key

It’s generally agreed that persuading employees to give more than required can make or break a company. Yet many leaders struggle to get that discretionary effort. The 2022 Gallup State of the…

Why Mary Barra Should Be the Norm, Not the Exception

One issue has been largely overlooked in the discussions about women in leadership: Do the traits of one gender have an advantage over the other in the boardroom? Direct and self-promotional…

Encouraging Creativity: You Never Know Where the Next Billion Dollar Idea Will Come From

There is nothing mysterious about creativity. Contrary to what many writers write and to the many so-called myths out there; it is not a brain thing or a province of just a few. As a matter of fact…