There Are No Rules

"The future of work will not include the archaic rules we cling to today."
- Me

Protocol
How many times do you consider protocol before making a decision? When you think about what is "acceptable" in your workplace do your decisions change? Why?

Is there an established set of rules, policies or procedures that everyone must follow? Probably yes for some things, but I'm guessing not for how to raise issues, take risks, or God-forbid, identify break-through thinking.

So then, what is so powerful about protocol?

Corporate Culture
The answer I most often hear has to do with something called corporate culture. What surprises me most about this response is the inherent assumption that an organization has one homogenous culture. That is impossible.

Corporate cultures are actually made up of the dozens, or hundreds, or thousands of micro-cultures that exist at the team or department level. 

That is where the core values and mission of the organization must be effectively communicated and exemplified by leadership if a "corporate culture" is going to materialize at some higher level.

The Future of Rules
The only way I've been able to make real progress over the years was when I simply disregarded the norms, protocol, and generally risk-averse ineffectiveness of "modern" leadership.

The leaders of tomorrow are openly wondering why things move so slowly; why their big ideas do not get the obvious support they deserve; and how they can continue to push themselves to be more than they ever imagined.

How About You
I'm thrilled about the future of work. Candidly, I'm going to continue to lead as if the future is now.

Rules be damned.

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

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Dead Eyes See No Future (of Talent)

"The real issue is not talent as an independent element, but talent in relationship to will, desire, and persistence. Talent without these things vanishes. Even modest talent with those characteristics grows."
- Milton Glaser

The future of work is such a wide open issue. With so many perspectives, ideas, and "guaranteed" predictions out there one might assume the next few chapters of the world of work have already been written.

But one important piece has been left out of the story. 

Leadership Talent 
Leadership will continue to make all the difference...

Check out the rest of this post over at the IBM Social Business blog.


I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.



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Death Squad

Personal and professional transformation are phrases that often sound inspiring, yet are rarely achieved. Why is that? In a world that has changed so rapidly in the last five years, it astounds me that more leaders have not taken a long hard look in the mirror and recognized that something had to change.

Just so you know...my look in the mirror was long...and very, very humbling.

Safe Is Death
I've spent the last twenty years in an industry that prides itself on not taking risks. Slow and steady avoids bad PR and other external forces with nefarious intent. So how does one "raised" in that environment decide to reinvent himself?

The answer for me was quite simple actually...the modern world of work demanded that I change.

Sure, I could try to play it safe for the next few years...and as my friend Ted Coine
likes to say I could "get comfortable with obsolescence."

Quite simply following a risk-averse hide in your comfort zone leadership style means professional death. No one will believe you are current. No one will believe you understand how the world works. And by the way, all of those millennials that will dominate your workforce in the next few years will never trust you to lead them in any way.

"The modern world of work demands that you get current. It doesn't matter if you don't like it. It's no longer up to you."


It Won't Kill You
As it turns out, transformation does not end your career. It creates new opportunities. Transformation does not hurt your credibility. It takes it to a place you didn't think you could get to. 

Transformation does not put you at risk in your "play-it-safe-until-I'm-useless" world. It changes you into a leader that others wish they could be.

Isn't it time you pushed yourself beyond processing paperwork and answering emails faster and faster and counting that as progress?

How About You
Staying with your status quo crowd is the real threat. The death squad you're so afraid of is the one you already belong to. It's time to break free and jump into the modern world of work. Remember, real leaders recognize they no longer have a choice. 

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.



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