I got an email today from a friend who wrote:

“In the middle of reading Fierce Leadership, I got a phone call from a good friend who was one of my colleagues at IBM in Boulder, Colorado. He shared that they are CHARGING EMPLOYEES for the use of napkins and cutlery in the site cafeteria. I am reading your words about making a deeper connection with people, and I get this information in stark contrast. At one time I was so proud of IBM, and to be part of IBM. What a long wicked way things have come.” (more…)

I offer the following true story as an opportunity to practice squid eye. If you’ve read Fierce Leadership, you know all about squid eye – the ability to spot the “tells” that indicate something is wrong, something isn’t working. If you’re good at squid eye, you are able to see what doesn’t want to be seen, what is hiding, often right under our noses. It’s like having sight in the presence of the blind.

“Tells” are all around us and come in many forms. So-called “best” practices that, when we consider the results they produce, are in fact, worst practices. Strongly held beliefs that make everyone weep, winning us nothing to write home about. Organizations that declare war on the wrong things. (more…)

Thank you everyone for maintaining the momentum and making Fierce Leadership: A Bold Alternative to the Worst “Best” Practices of Business Today #8 on the latest BusinessWeek’s bestseller list! We couldn’t have done it without you. If you would like to view the list, click here.

We would love to hear about which practices your organizations are currently using that are no longer a “best” practice? Please post your comments here!

I remember back in Psych 101, watching a video of the Milgram Experiment in which the researcher asked people to administer an electrical shock to another person (who was really just an actor pretending to get shocked). Milgram was trying to figure out to what degree people respond to authority. The results were, excuse the pun, shocking! 65% of the people administered the full shock of 450 Volts to someone “with a heart condition”.

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