When I first joined Wall Street in ’02, I knew right away that this business world would be a test of my will. The people at the top had similar personas: aggressive, intelligent and confident. The combination was intimidating. So I tried it on for size and it wasn’t pretty. I was unauthentic and awkward. I stopped immediately. Then ...
Ever hear of a well-oiled machine? It is a group that functions at optimal levels because each member does his part extremely well with little to no oversight. Usually this happens because the leader has found a way to evoke the best from each person. This is not about squeezing the most out of everyone. ...
There is no way to learn strategic thinking than by doing it. You can’t really learn it in a book or website for that matter, so unless you plan on working and thinking through these examples with me – you may not find any of this valuable. And for those who have taken my class, ...
People often schedule meetings with me for career direction and guidance. They ask what can they do to set themselves apart and how can they be the next leader in the firm.. how can they learn about the areas of growth within the company.. and of course, how do they… (implicitly asked)… get promoted? So, ...
Here are the six things I do every morning before I do anything work-related: – Nourish my body. Coffee and bagel with cream cheese (my favorite) – Nourish my heart/ soul. Listen to music on my drive to work ex-advertisements – Be proactive. Schedule my day. Look at my calendar for meetings, then plan out ...
If you’re like me, you love to be fast. Really fast. One of my first jobs in high school was as a receptionist for a doctor’s office, and one of my responsibilities was mailing out bills. Stacks and stacks of envelopes and papers and stamps and glue. Yuck. So typical Jane created a factory. I ...
Each year, there is a global fall dance – that is, the period of time between late summer and late fall when the heads of the business set the annual operating plan for the following year. There’s a colorful exchange between the leaders to determine the right balance between what they will and should deliver ...
My jaw drops open as I watch a senior manager type and send an email that we are constructing together. It takes her a full 30 seconds to open a new email dialogue box and search for the recipient’s name, and another 30 seconds at the end to spell-check and send. In this day and ...
I’m not always productive. Last Saturday, I got up at the crack of dawn, wrote a list of 20 things to accomplish on my white board and crossed off every single one of them. Today is not one of those days. I took NyQuil last night to ward off this annoying cold that keeps coming ...
Let me tell you a story about three little kids who wanted to sell lemonade. The first kid set up his lemonade stand on the busiest street corner in town and made a large sign that said “Lemonade – 5 cents”. He made 20 sales that day, totaling $1 The second kid set up his ...