Leadership coach and consultant.
When the demands you face outpace the resources you have to address them, you’ll end up negotiating with yourself about which of your many fires you should put out, even as you painfully neglect the others. I call this set of imperfect choices the manager’s dilemma because it is truly a no-win situation, without an […]
Do you have the guilty feeling that you should be reading more books, networking with successful peers, or attending webinars and workshops to keep your professional focus tight…while the truth is that there is just no time or energy for it? You are not alone in the struggle with this immovable contradiction. When it comes […]
Local Job Network Interview Series Moving Up the Ladder – Transcending Your Job Description by Jesse Sostrin and Tim Muma Wednesday, March 05, 2014 In a hypercompetitive job market, even successful people often look over their shoulders for the “next great person” who could take their job. Thus, individuals need to ensure they make themselves […]
My new book, Beyond the Job Description, got a nice 5-Star review on Goodreads. ————————————————————————– This is hands down the BEST career advice book that I have read. I bought it because I enjoy my job and am doing ok in it, but I’ve been too close to the bottom of the work pyramid for […]
Beginning in 1990, a collaborative effort to map the entire human genome began. The project was finally completed in 2003 and for the first time the 20,000—25,000 genes in human DNA were identified. The sequences of the three billion chemical base pairs were determined and the information was stored in electronic databases for analysis, study, […]
The term “competitive advantage” refers to factors that can be leveraged to stand out, get ahead, and win in a given pursuit. In business, competitive advantage matters significantly when you are operating in a climate of hyper-competition with ever-increasing costs of doing business. Knowing and using your competitive advantage wisely in the marketplace can make […]
Communication is an intrinsic aspect of our working lives. There is not a single collaborative initiative we pursue that does not require some form of communication with others. And there is not a day that goes by where the interactions we have with other people do not in some way “influence” the quality of our […]
The thing about shortcuts is that there are no short cuts to effective communication. Despite the prevalence of three-step processes to get difficult conversations right, listen better, persuade others, etc. it takes a deeper level of focus and effort to shift unwanted patterns of communication. However, re-making communication at work can have dramatic effects on […]
Almost four hundred years ago the seminal philosophers John Locke and David Hume implicitly defined “communication” as a tool for the transmission of pure ideas, meaning ideas themselves are what matter, not the way they are expressed and exchanged. This perspective not only took hold, but it has survived until this day as the dominant […]
Many have tried and just as many have failed. Well-meaning and highly skilled supervisors, trainers, executive coaches, management consultants, and human resources professionals have all accepted the challenge of “improving” communication within their teams. For those of us who have had the wonderful experience of attending a communication skills workshop of some kind, only to […]