Kristin's Blog
The Power of Vulnerability
Over the past several months, I have been engaged in an increasing number of situations where personal egos lose their touchstone to the ultimate demise of the organization, the overall mission, or the actual individual. People pull out their yardsticks, puff up their positions, have all the answers (regardless of the questions) – all with…
Is the sky falling?
I have started this blog at least a hundred times in the past 10 days. However, with the daily volatility in the world, quite candidly, I had a hard time getting my head around what I really wanted to say. Today, the world looks terribly different from when I started this entry. The inevitable and…
Authenticity
Business executives (and society in general) have a tendency to latch onto words, phrases, and cliché’s that become ‘the word Du jour’ which capture where we ‘are’ as a society of individuals. We fall in love with the word – or the ‘spirit’ of what the word represents – and we just use it over…
Is feedback really a gift?
In today’s world most everyone has engaged in 360 feedback processes, bi-directional feedback, and opinion surveys of one sort or another in order to gauge leadership strengths, 360-degree job performance, what’s working/what’s not working, and overall customer satisfaction. Companies put employees (and often their alliance partners, channel partners, and even their customers) through this rigor…
Do we treat our people as if they are our greatest asset?
Why is it that if the people ‘on the company bus’ are a company’s most important asset, they are not treated as such? For years, I have been taught through many leadership courses, business books, etc. that a company’s greatest asset is their ‘human capital.’ In fact, as early as 1982 when Tom Peters released, In Search…
Is the grass really greener?
“You know, I would be just fine if I just wouldn’t compare myself to everyone else” a colleague lamented to me the other night. This person (don’t want to assign gender as this goes both ways), by many peoples’ measures, ‘has it all’ – monetarily successful, happily married, has two precious, well adjusted children, healthy,…
From Hamster to Ferris Wheel
I bet there isn’t a single one of us who has not asked the question, “What’s it all about Alfie?” at one point in our lives or another. Work. Promotions. Competition. Corporate politics. Wealth accumulation. Stock options; strike price. IPO – acquisitions – venture backing. Investments. Retirement plans. Capitalism at its finest – hallelujah!! Being…
Boys and Girls Club of America - Aligning Mission & Metrics
There was a Boy’s Club in my home town; however, to be honest, I had no real familiarity with it. I knew they were a ‘good outfit’ (through, what I know now, only as: ‘brand awareness’); yet, I had no first hand experience until this year. I have had the privilege of working with the…
Identity Crisis in Seat 5E
His name was John. We were seated next to each other on a delayed flight from Chicago to Dallas. John was telling me about his 20 year career with a large Fortune 50 healthcare company. He had been a Vice-President over a multi-billion dollar sales organization and had decided to leave due to a myriad…
The Myth of the Pied Piper: The realities of leading in today's corporation and staying true to your values
We are all familiar with “The Pied Piper of Hamelin.” Remember – the folk tale written by the Brothers Grimm. It tells about the disaster in the town of Hamelin, Germany, back in the late 1200’s. In that year a man came to Hamelin claiming to be a rat-catcher. The people of Hamelin promised him…