Last week, Maya Angelou passed away. As when a majestic sequoia dies, her passing came as a shock. Some things, some people, we expect, will never die. And the news of her passing took my breath away. Sharing the news of her passing, her family posted this statement on her website: [Ms. Angelou] lived a life as a teacher, activist, artist and human being. She was
“My cats shredded your couch. You are correct.” This is the phrase that converted my husband’s lack of appreciation for cats into a wholesale intolerance of anything remotely feline. It was uttered by his then roommate, a woman with two cats to whom he very reluctantly rented one of the rooms of his house in the years before I met him. “I always distrusted cats,”
Awhile back, I met a brilliant CEO whose grimaces, body language, cutting glances and sarcastic public insults could shut off a debate in a second or two at most. One senior executive told me that this leader’s comments, eye rolls, and headshakes convinced him that he did not want to hear concerns regarding major initiatives, only agreement. Encountering familiar behaviors in a $2 billion deal
Last week I was in Manila working with colleagues from the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, India, and China. I am back home now, researching recipes for adobo and holding in my hand the most beautiful pistachio-colored, South Sea pearl I have ever seen. All in all, a terrific experience both personally and professionally, and certainly one difficult to summarize in a few words. Still,
There are many ways that leaders and co-workers can detract from the performance of those around them. They can be purposely mean spirited, sexually or racially offensive, or downright cruel. While it’s hard for most of us to fathom, for some people, demeaning others brings satisfaction or a sense of superiority. But that’s not always what motivates abusive behavior. For self-styled, high-performing perfectionists, special pressures
A while back I spoke with a distinguished physician leader. He wanted to change the behavior of key hospital staff who habitually engaged in unprofessional and perhaps even abusive conduct. ‘Why don’t we put them through an eLearning?” he asked. “By letting them do this on their own schedules, we’ll be able to roll this out quickly.” “Because it won’t work,” I said; and fortunately,
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