We react to the economic crisis with layoffs, travel restrictions, forced leave, reductions, cutbacks, pointing fingers…(you fill in the blank). Bad strategies? Maybe not. Some of these responses may be warranted in the short run, but if you are concerned with measuring success by long term results, then these solutions alone aren’t enough.

It seems we love to place blame by pointing at events, corporations, and people…sub-prime lending, Enron (remember?), the auto industry, Bernie Madoff, banking executives and their huge bonuses. And we’ll probably sign into more legislations like Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), although signing that in 2002 didn’t keep what happened in 2008-2009 from happening. Why do shareholders (by the way that’s us) demand short-term results and LOVE layoffs and cutbacks? It’s because someone is doing something… Hooray!!!! (more…)

I watched Susan deliver a Fierce Leadership keynote to a Keller Williams Realty leadership summit last Saturday and was struck by so many things she said, one of which was:

“An economic downturn is a terrible thing to waste.”

What a thought! And as I’m sitting here, on fire, with so many things to do, I paused to think how lucky we are that our messages at Fierce are so immune to global economic downturns, and in fact are, in so many ways, an antidote.

Here’s to taking advantage of opportunities that present themselves no matter the circumstance.

I just read a book called Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior by Ori and Rom Brafman. It was a fun read and it brought home a couple of Fierce points; our emotions drive our decision-making and our context dictates the content of our lives. The Brafman’s show us time and again how we will cling to irrational behaviors that in hindsight seem silly or down right destructive. Is this just the human condition…or can we acknowledge that sometimes dark forces are at play and stop short of irrational behavior? I believe obeying our instincts doesn’t happen often enough and I believe that a quick check-in on the possible outcomes of the path we choose is important as well. The question is can they both be done at the same time?

At the risk of alienating myself from OD people around the world, I can’t help but spout off. I just got off of a discussion about capability indices and readiness assessments, and it’s making my head hurt. It’s amazing, what we will do in Training and Development to prove our worth!

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I look at this picture every day to remind myself to stay curious about what’s over the next rise…Where is your journey taking you?