How often have you sent multiple emails to someone before getting a response? How often have you received multiple emails before responding? Chances are, you’ve been on both sides of that equation. Of course, if you’ve received multiple emails and haven’t responded, you can usually identify reasons why: you’re snowed under, or you need moreContinue reading “When Leaders Don’t Respond”
Category Archives: Leadership
A Brand New Day for Your Leadership using “The Marvel Method”?
With Spider-Man: Brand New Day making more than a billion dollars worldwide in just seven days, and breaking all kinds of records along the way, now seems like a good time to look back at Spider-Man’s origins, and what we can learn from them. No, not the radioactive spider, Uncle Ben’s death and the resultingContinue reading “A Brand New Day for Your Leadership using “The Marvel Method”?”
Text, Voice, and Recalibrating Tone
Have you ever received a message from someone at work and interpreted the tone as angry, terse, or upset, leaving you stewing for days over what you did that caused that response, or how your reputation or relationships might be damaged as a result? On the flip side, have you ever sent a quick textContinue reading “Text, Voice, and Recalibrating Tone”
What is Cooperative Overlap? Isn’t It Just Interrupting?
Cooperative Overlap (or Collaborative Overlap) is a term coined by Georgetown University professor of linguistics and author Deborah Tannen, in which the listener starts talking along with the speaker, not to cut them off but rather to validate or show they’re engaged in what the other person is saying. In conversations, do you have aContinue reading “What is Cooperative Overlap? Isn’t It Just Interrupting?”
Is it Time to Sub in Your Rising Stars?
As we reach the final few matches of the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup, I’ve been reminded of the key role that rising stars can play on a team, both in football and in the workplace. I’ve found myself drawn back to this piece published first in 2023 during the FIFA Women’s World Cup. WhetherContinue reading “Is it Time to Sub in Your Rising Stars?”
What IKEA Furniture Does to Your Brain
If you’ve built a few pieces of IKEA furniture in your time, you might be amused by this quote from company founder Ingvar Kamprad, posted on their website: “IKEA[*] is not the work of one person alone. It is the result of many minds and many souls working together through many years of joy andContinue reading “What IKEA Furniture Does to Your Brain”
Stanislav Petrov, the Man Who Saved the World?
Have you heard of Russian lieutenant colonel Stanislav Petrov? Maybe not. Or do you recognize his name in Russian, Станислав Петров? Unlikely. His name is not widely known around the world, and yet he may well have saved it – by doing nothing! Or more correctly, by disobeying orders and choosing not to take action. Petrov’s monumentalContinue reading “Stanislav Petrov, the Man Who Saved the World?”
Power of the People > the People in Power
“Power to the People!” John Lennon sang in 1971, bringing music to a slogan that had been chanted and shouted by young people across the US to protest the Vietnam War over the previous few years. Meanwhile, “All Power to the People” was also being chanted by the Black Panthers to protest what they perceivedContinue reading “Power of the People > the People in Power”
The Anti-AI Revolution at 2026 Graduations
I might pay attention to graduation speeches each year more than the average person. Despite missing my own graduation to work overseas, and sitting in torrential rain during for my graduate degree commencement ceremony a few years later, I then had the joy of working at Harvard University’s commencement ceremonies for more than a decade,Continue reading “The Anti-AI Revolution at 2026 Graduations”
Stephen Colbert and the Art of Adjourning
As you might know, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ended last week, bringing to a close Colbert’s own 11-year run on the show, as well as The Late Show‘s 33-year run (which began with host David Letterman), and a history of TV variety shows in the same theater dating back to the early 1950s.Continue reading “Stephen Colbert and the Art of Adjourning”
Building Bridges Leadership 