Leadership Lessons | Does Mom think you should be a snitch?

“God grant that men of principle shall be our principal men.”

– Thomas Jefferson

Does Mom think you should be a snitch?

Some of you may be familiar with the famed but controversial West Point Cadet Honor Code: “A cadet will not lie, cheat or steal or tolerate those who do.

But didn’t somebody say: “Don’t be a tattletale?”

Few of us would doubt the wisdom of “will not lie, cheat or steal”, the core of many of the values we learned as children.

One of the other things we learned as children, though, was, “don’t be a tattletale.”

Be loyal to your friends, don’t snitch on them, and don’t go running to mommy when you observe a small infraction of the rules. It doesn’t help that we’ve seen countless movies since then where a snitch ends up on the wrong side of the grass.

What about the part, “or tolerate those who do”?

Thus, the controversial phrase, “or tolerate those who do.” (more…)

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Leadership | Can we really trust you to fake authenticity?

If you’re not authentic, who are you?

What a surprise!

Years ago I was traveling regularly to Asia, and wanted to buy my wife a Cartier tank watch, a style that was very popular at the time.

I visited a reputable jeweler where most of my partners had been shopping for over 20 years, and found exactly what I was looking for. My wife was ecstatic, and I saved a lot of money over what I would’ve spent here.

… and a bummer!

[pullquote]“If you seek authenticity for authenticity’s sake you are no longer authentic.”~ Jean-Paul Sartre[/pullquote]

One day, it stopped working. Cartier is a highly reputable brand, so I didn’t hesitate to send it to their New York facility for repair.

Imagine my stunned surprise when several weeks later they returned it with a note that said it was a reproduction.

A fake.

I not only bought the watch from an established retailer, but I had the beautiful Cartier box, a written certificate of authenticity and a warranty card. All of it was fake.

(more…)

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Leadership | How many distractions are YOU creating?

How many distractions do you own?

Does it seem like we’ve talked about distractions a lot in the past?

Maybe it’s just the ones in my head that makes me think so … which of course, is a distraction itself. (In the interest of full disclosure, I did write about distractions last April, “Are Distractions Destroying Your Brain?”

In “Just Plans … or Sleeping around”, I responded to the tempest by offering some ideas about how to defend your castle by building a moat, then some barricades, then some lookout posts. (more…)

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Leadership | Your mom is watching: Is your moral compass malfunctioning?

Mother very disappointed or angry

You grabbed the last piece of cake before your sister could get it. The principal called and said your daughter broke another girl’s toy because she got to it first. Your son pushed a boy on the playground because that boy got the last place on the teeter-totter.

“You know better than that!” Isn’t that what our mothers would have said — our fathers, too?

Mom always said, “You Know Better Than That”

What made them think that we knew better than that? (more…)

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Leadership | There’s a simple one-word formula to avoid an ass-whuppin’

PREPARE to Win … or get ready to get your butt kicked!

 

Barbie Doll HouseMany moons ago when my daughter was 3 years old, she really wanted a Barbie dollhouse for Christmas.

She never played with Barbie dolls … never liked them much either … but she loved all the little people and things in that doll house.

We found one and hid it in the attic to await Christmas Eve when we could sneak it under the Christmas tree.

My wife and I went up to the attic around 10 p.m. that evening and it was only then when I noticed the small print on the side of the large box … “less than 500 pieces.”

Assembly Required?

What? 500 pieces? To assemble? At this hour? Alas, yes … and man, was it painful to have to stay up until 3 a.m. putting it together. How’s that for preparation? (more…)

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