We would not be here as a species if learning and change had not taken

Imagine a group of Neanderthals, sitting around their fire in the cave, when ‘Karg’, the most free-thinking of the hunters, using whatever grunts and motions he had available, speaks to his fellows. ‘You know, guys, we got the mastodon today, but I wonder how we could kill them without losing so many of us in the process?!’...

Physiologists call it being ‘centered’ and athletes refer to it as

entering the ‘zone’.  There are other names for this special state of being—where a person or team thinks, feels, and performs beyond their habitual limits.  Those wishing to take the lead in an increasingly turbulent world must have the capacity to inspire self and others...

CEOs can secure corporate viability during growth by picking up the baton

Like jazz groups, successful small companies create a dedicated following because a limited number of players are in tune with the founder’s vision. They know their strengths and limitations, cover for each other, become experts at shooting from the hip, changing direction on the fly, and multi-tasking—in short, they are capable and prepared to...

The shift-age (labeled such by futurist David Houle) is transforming our

lives and radically changing the way business will be done.  Like a large number of our ancestors who experienced and end to the “age of extraction”—where people made a  living by farming, fishing, logging, hunting, and trapping, many individuals and companies have not...

How you attempt to influence others counts – It counts in how you

You are influencing all the time. From interviewing a top candidate for a position that you’d like to fill or recommending a new course of action in a staff meeting to suggesting where you and a friend may go to lunch, life is a series of influencing opportunities. First, it’s important to distinguish ethical influencing from coercive behavior...

I remember experiencing bad hair days because a colleague  smacked his

Overreaction to insignificant events is usually about control issues and judging.  Humans spend an inordinate amount of time trying to get others to do as they do, believe as they believe, feel as they feel and even chew as they chew.  We focus on the faults of others because doing so is less painful than dealing with our own shortcomings.  “...

If HR wants to “earn a seat at the strategic table,” it must justify

Recognize that most small to medium-sized businesses don’t have much HR expertise. How many of those folks wearing the HR hat have made the effort to obtain their PHR or SPHR designation—the benchmark of a “serious” HR executive? A company without this expertise would be wise to seek it out, either through a part-time consultant or HR executive...

don't waste time and resources trying to develop non adaptive employees

A significant success factor for supervisors, managers, executives, and CEOs is knowing when and how to fire in a rapidly changing and fiercely competitive world—referred to by futurist David Houle as the shift-age.  Many managers, labor leaders, and government regulators are haunted by industrial-age ghosts.  Unknowingly, they are being influenced...

Given the state of the international economic crisis, business must become

Our new reality is that things are changing all the time—we must train ourselves to notice and respond. When nothing appears the same from moment to moment, our mind creates a fantasy of ‘the way things are’ and the untrained tend to hold onto that view for dear life. We often mentally mold people and events into what makes sense to us...

My dream was to be outstanding in my field.  I finally made it.  That

Many of my childhood chums had chosen to live their entire lives in the environmental masterpiece that, although I left as a teenager, never stopped calling home.  When my school chums and I got together, we reflected on our differing career paths.  The talkee usually ended up with his/her eyes glazed over, listening wistfully and somewhat enviously...