Questions

I once worked with someone that was really great at what they do, however, a fatal flaw they had was that they always followed something up with a question. Sometimes that is good and necessary. It clarifies and specifies. But when you pose a question after everything, it begins to lose the desired effect. The questions are answered infrequently because people become numb to the follow-up questions.

Sometimes, take what your boss says, and just do it without asking questions. Grab the situation and own it. It's not that you shouldn't ask questions or raise objections, but doing so every time can distract and delay.

Hemingway

She made things easier so that there was last night and this afternoon. She is a damned sight
more civilized than you are and she knows what time is all about.

Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls, pg. 175, loc. 2833. Kindle Edition

Where's the Joy?

There are a couple of people in my circle trying to manipulate me.
And there has been a void in my life, a notable absence, of joy. The two are related.
I need to disassemble things and take a good look and see if I can correct the situation.

Meetings

In my position, meetings usually prevent me from completing work and add to my task list. For other people, it seems that the meeting is what they consider working. Tangible versus intangible. You could argue that being a leader requires more meetings - that it informs the leaders, and is an environment of idea generation. Sometimes, it prompts people to be prepared for their boss, which is a good thing. My experience is that most meetings don't need to be held, and it's unfortunate if it takes those meetings to prod some people into being productive.

And while leaders tend to have more meetings, naturally, I believe if all they are doing is having meetings, something isn't right.

But, hey, I'm no Jack Handy.

Zones

Man, time zones suck. I miss the universal nature of the 24-hour clock, be it GMT or Zulu.

Leadership 101

Classic Leadership Mistake #1
Unless you have been recruited into a failing organization with the specific purpose of changing everything … don't.
Take some time to get to know the people and processes. Change things gradually, if needed. Another classic and related leadership mistake is to announce that you won't be changing anything right away … and then you do it anyway.

Lulu's Greeting

 

Lulu would like to wish every person and doggo on the planet the very merriest holidays possible.

She asked me to post this. She did. It's true.