Reflection on disconnection In 2009 we are indeed a global community infected by disconnection. On many levels and in many ways. And as a planet and as a tribe living on that planet, it’s safe to say that the Disconnection Epidemic is killing us. Or perhaps should I say, we’re killing us. Metaphorically and literally. Just…

You want engagement. But no one’s buying. If you want something done you have to spell it out in detail, or even give up and get to that ugly “I’ll just do it myself” place of the defeated manager. You feel like every time you turn your back, the wheels come off the bus again. You’ve got zero engagement.

So how do you fix that?

Why do you do what you do? Do you ever feel like you’re spinning your wheels? Is your life filled with activities and obligations that have no intrinsic meaning for you, things you do because you have to for one reason or another? Are you bored? I’ve been thinking about engagement since I interviewed…

Twitter is clearly the Next Big Thing. In the past couple of months, we’ve seen CNN adopting it as a way of giving living feedback during their shows, celebrities from Britney Spears to Demi Moore opening accounts, and hundreds of thousands of new users join the ranks of Tweeters. Businesses are getting into the Twitter game…

Lifehack for the day: Make your customer service experience vastly better for only the cost of your attention. Here’s an example. In meeting the demands of my coaching business, I fly inter-island frequently between four of Hawaii’s larger and most populated islands. I’ve racked up enough miles to normally access the up front aisle seat selections with…

I’ve been thinking and writing quite a lot this week about Hamburger Management: the type of management approach that is based on always doing whatever is quickest, simplest and (above all) cheapest. Hamburger Managers provide the kind of leadership that is best described as: “Never mind the quality, look how fast it goes and how…

Rules are the kind of thing you love when you want them, and hate when you don’t. More often than not, my advice to managers is to avoid the urge to set them. The only exception I can think of on the pro side of writing rules are The Real Rules of Engagement because they…

There is a new boogeyman striking fear into top executives. In the past decade managers have gotten pretty well brainwashed in their hero-worship of the caped crusader called Empowerment. They know it’s a good thing to strive for in their organizations. They even understand that their own work-life balance depends on it. They realize that only…

On a recent late night I found myself needing to wind down before sleep, I flipped on the TV and happened to catch the tail end of Rules of Engagement. The military action drama seemed so completely out of context for me, for without ever having seen the movie when it came out for…