Still on a high (Mike prefers the term “learning hangover”) from our conversation with the CEO of the John R. Wooden Course, Mike and Mark discuss one of the core tenants of the Wooden approach. Lead by example. Simple to say, hard to execute, profound in its impact. We would love your questions and comments for future episodes: …
Podcast 104 (our two-year special!): The magic of Coach Wooden–an interview with his disciple
We’ve produced two years of weekly podcasts! To celebrate, here’s a fascinating conversation with a mentor of our mentor–who was mentored by the Wizard of Westwood himself. Lynn Guerin is CEO of the John R. Wooden Course. He partnered with Coach Wooden to create the course, sharing Wooden’s legacy of “timeless wisdom for personal and team success.” In our interview, …
“Heroic in how we do business”
I’m still reading Alexis de Tocqueville. And I’m still blown away by how accurately his “Democracy in America” calls out what makes America great–and what someday might be our Achilles heel. Today’s post is just to remind Americans that we have some distinct qualities, things that rightly make us proud. Such as: cutting costs. Stay with me! There is no …
Do customers see you as Ringling Bros. or Cirque du Soleil?
I don’t care which you prefer: One of them went out of business. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus closed up shop in 2017. I’ve had a note to myself since then to write an article about it. Since I procrastinated, here’s a well-written one from the Detroit Free Press. “As consumer preferences shifted, the circus stood still.” This …
Content creation: employee engagement needed
Automotive News posted this 5-minute video about Audi Milwaukee’s successful efforts on TikTok. Millions of views, two actual sales and a longterm customer base. While I refuse to join TikTok because I don’t want President Xi to know where I am at all times, I’m posting the video here for two reasons: It’s a great example of the content creation …
Work is not your god, but God wants you to work.
“Your Work Is Not Your God: Welcome to the Age of the Burnout Epidemic.” That’s the title of an essay by scholar and ex-professor Jonathan Malesic. He wrote a book about the subject. The essay is definitely worth a read if you can pardon the F Word toward the end. The title of Malesic’s essay implies that we have made …
Podcast 99: Do you have a culture … or a cult-?
There is tension in your organization’s culture. And it is most definitely a tension to manage, not a problem to solve. We would love your questions and comments for future episodes: Email Mike and Mark. Listen here … subscribe on Spotify, Amazon or Apple … or view below.
An artist shows us how to embrace what we have
We have family in Nashville and visit two or three times a year. We often go to the Frist Art Museum, in an old Art Deco post office. It’s a beautiful container for interesting work. I’ve never seen it generate quite the interest I saw last week. LeXander Bryant is a Nashville-based artist. His exhibition shares the same space that …
Podcast 94: The Workplace Book Club — Clothes make the man
Should looks matter? Do they? What about criticism? What’s the appropriate response to getting it? Shakespeare gives his 2 cents via Hamlet, and Mike and Mark are #guyswithoutlookswithbooks. The excerpt and study guide for this episode, “Clothes make the man,” is available for free download. We would love your questions and comments (and book ideas!) for future episodes: Email …
The death that comes with growth
My first boss, when I would complain about being busy, would say, “Mark … that’s a high-class problem.” He was right, of course. Better than the alternative. … There is another high-class problem that all successful organizations face: growth. If all growth meant were more clients, more sales, more profits, wonderful. But with the sales come more processes to execute. …