Leadership can be incredibly rewarding, but it isn’t always fun. You have to make tough decisions, be held accountable for other people’s work (or non-work), log long hours and pretend to be “on” even when you’re feeling off. And you have to address employee conduct and performance issues. Ugh! Let’s say you have an employee who uses your scheduled meeting time to catch up on sleep. He comes to the meeting, but nods off. This is unacceptable. But even though you’re annoyed, you stay silent to avoid coming across as mean or, worse, facing a backlash. You want to be liked. But leadership isn’t a popularity contest. As a leader, I firmly believe you must call a thing a thing. You’ve got to addr
It all happen so quickly. One breezy evening in May, we went to the hospital emergency room because my mom wasn't doing well. I never imagined she would die eleven days later. Though heart-wrenching, the final days I spent with my mother were perfect. We all have to experience death. All of us. And because of this truth, I consider the time leading up to my mother’s death as a wonderful gift. Less than 90 minutes after arriving in the hospital emergency room, we were presented with a diagnosis of possible lung cancer based on a large mass on the upper right lung and other parts of my mom’s fragile body. Final test results would confirm. The doctor delivered this news while kneeling at my mom
