I was so angry my whole body was shaking. I stared at Günther* with hate, my left hand in a fist and my right hand gripping a tennis racket as a weapon. I was ready to kill him. Was this really me? I had returned to Ann Bradney's extraordinary … [Read more...]
Three Questions that Help Me Live a Fulfilling Life
August 16, 2011 By 4 Comments
I am on a plane with my wife Eleanor as we fly back from our once-a-year-without-children vacation. It was, for us, the perfect week. After years of planning vacations, we've finally figured out how to reliably create a meaningful, fun, fulfilling … [Read more...]
A Better Way to Manage Your To-Do List
February 24, 2011 By
When my wife Eleanor was a little girl, maybe nine or ten years old, she needed new shoes. So she told her mother and they agreed to go shoe shopping the following Saturday morning. But when Saturday rolled around, Eleanor's mother was too busy and … [Read more...]
Arguing Is Pointless
February 8, 2011 By
It was lunchtime and the seven of us — two kids and five adults — would be in the car for the next three hours as we drove from New York City to upstate Connecticut for the weekend. We decided to get some takeout at a place on the corner … [Read more...]
The Best Way to Use the Last Five Minutes of Your Day
January 3, 2011 By
Julie Anko*, the head of a division of a retail company I work with, was at risk of getting fired. Here's the crazy thing: she was a top performer. She had done more for the brand in the past year than any of her predecessors had in five years. The … [Read more...]
The No-Drama Rule of Management
June 10, 2010 By
I lay back in the chair, closed my eyes, and almost immediately felt my body relax. An instant later a stream of warm water rinsed through my hair while strong, competent hands massaged my scalp. For that moment my stress disappeared, washed away … [Read more...]
When Should You Let an Employee Make a Mistake?
November 5, 2009 By
"Put my training wheels back on," Sophia said in a stern tone, "Or I'm not going to ride my bike!" She had just turned four that day and wanted to learn to ride a bike like her older sister. Now she wasn't so sure. After a lot of encouraging and a … [Read more...]
A New Rule for the Workplace
September 10, 2009 By
A few months ago my wife Eleanor came home upset after an incident with one of the parents at our daughter's school. That afternoon, when Eleanor said hello to Michelle, Michelle completely ignored her. Thinking maybe Michelle hadn't heard her, … [Read more...]
To Get More Done, Slow Down
August 18, 2009 By
On a Friday afternoon almost twenty years ago, soon after I had started working at a New York consulting firm, I was working on an important presentation with Andy Geller, who ran the office. We'd promised to deliver it Monday morning, and we were … [Read more...]
Living in an Uncertain World
July 24, 2009 By
"I can't keep doing this!" My friend, we'll call her Helen, was complaining about her work. It had been a while since I had last seen her—before the most recent downturn—and she was definitely worse for the wear. … [Read more...]
