Kristin's Blog
The Mail Room
I heard an interesting interview a few weeks ago with, of all people: Simon Cowell. I actually have a strange respect for Simon Cowell. He says what we all secretly want to say, he says it with candor and direct honesty, and he never apologizes for his opinion. Whatever your opinions of him are, one…
Hard Decisions
As leaders we find ourselves facing hard decisions on a regular basis. The most difficult ones are seldom black and white. These are the decisions that force us to choose between competing values. It is not easy or clear cut. Often these decisions are not clearly ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ instead they become the lesser of evils where neither…
Social Media Success Stories
In our first “From the Cockpit interview” with Steve Lee, chief pathfinder, Quicksilver Interactive Group, we discussed the criticality of alignment between social media and the company’s strategic direction. So, I went in search of success stories on companies that have implemented creative social media strategies to support their overall business objectives. I found these…
Finding the Bright Spots
In this podcast, we hear about finding the “bright spots” in ourselves and applying those strengths in new and different ways in our work and life.
Improprieties
This Between the Lines article is being written primarily at the request of my readers. Many have mentioned to me the increasing prevalence of improper, inappropriate, and often just downright rude behaviors. This may be somewhat similar to an entry made back in 2009 entitled That’s So Rude. Unfortunately, it appears the trend is ‘up’ for…
Ebby Halliday
Recently, I had the extreme honor of attending the 100th birthday party of Ebby Halliday, founder and chairman of the board of Ebby Halliday, REALTORS, at the Mort Meyerson Symphony Center. It was an extraordinary evening. Ebby always dreamed of being a bareback rider in the circus; thus, how fitting that the theme was a…
Top 10 Attributes of a Winner
A client of mine recently shared a fabulous book with me: WIN: Take your Business from Ordinary to Extraordinary. Interesting book, with meaty information for leaders from every aspect of the organization – sales to finance to operations to Board. There was one list which was particularly compelling – the 10 attributes of a winner.…
Trust Trumps
Recently, I read an article about Stephen Covey, (not the Stephen Covey from ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ fame, but his son). The article was espousing the virtues of trust, and how our world in business and society, not to mention geo-politically, has become a pervasively low-trust world. His perspective on trust is…
Forbidden Cliches
Recently, a favorite columnist of mine, Cheryl Hall from The Dallas Morning News, wrote an entertaining and compelling article entitled: “Buzzwords to Banish.” She builds a perspective relative to overused and often completely confusing words that have invaded our ‘business speak!’ She denounces cliches such as ‘at the end of the day,’ ‘killer app,’ ‘out of the box,’ ’24…
The Irrational Boss
This past weekend I reconnected with a dear colleague with whom I worked many years ago. He was sharing a challenge he often faces with the CEO of his company, to whom he reports. Please understand, this person and his boss have a wonderful and mutually respectful relationship; however, there are times when my friend says…