The parallels between true crime dramas and business leadership.
I’ll admit it: I’m one of those people who unwinds with true crime shows. “Dateline,” “48 Hours” and anything on the ID channel. At first, I justified it as entertainment. But over time, I began to notice something surprising: these shows aren’t just about crime — they’re about problem-solving, human behavior, and decision-making under pressure. […]
Baseball to Boardroom: Lessons from a Scrappy Lefty.
From age 6, I wanted to be the pitcher and grew to become the the left-handed pitcher every lineup prepared for. I thrived on the mound — the intensity, spotlight, strategy, solitude. Betting on myself to win. Years later, after trading cleats for wingtips, I found myself stepping onto a different kind of mound: the […]
Reaching a dream, letting go, creating another.
We all chase dreams. Sometimes they’re born when we’re young, other times they take shape gradually through years of hard work and purpose. What happens when you reach one of those dreams? What comes next? I’ve lived this cycle a few times with two of them being prominent in my mind…once as a skinny kid […]
They Like You…Until They Don’t.
There’s a funny thing that happens when you decide to take a bold step in your career. The same people who were your peers, supported you in meetings, asked about your family, actively engaged with your LinkedIn content and proudly wore the “team player” badge beside you suddenly fall quiet. They become distant or disappear. […]
Why so many managers don’t actually enjoy managing people (and how to get better at it).
Let’s be honest: Not everyone who becomes a manager actually enjoys managing people. It’ often a necessary evil to some as you grow in your career. My wife started leading people in her mid-20’s and had to fire an employee; that led to the employee throwing his chair at her. “I’m done managing people”, she […]
Why do leaders fail? It’s not about their intellect or job skills.
Leadership failure is rarely about intellect or ability. It’s usually deeper. It’s insecurity, mistrust, control, lack of emotional intelligence. These factors compromise them over the course of time and affect team and company. My take: 1.”Diabolical Insecurity”: Insecure leaders compensate with bravado or micromanagement or projection. “Diabolical Insecurity”, I call it. They appear decisive or […]
Marketing Misunderstood: A Real and Revealing Conversation.
Not so long ago, I presented a comprehensive, integrated sales and marketing plan to a business unit leader. The intent was to drive revenue and growth through brand building, lead generation, sales enablement, customer experience, account-based marketing, and conversion funnel analysis. The plan aligned marketing with sales and the broader business ecosystem. After my presentation, […]
Did Jaguar get it right?
There was lots of talk about the automaker’s latest ad campaign that broke in November of last year. The commercials were edgy and invoked social and cultural themes but there’s one thing missing from the commercial: actual images of their cars. I was always taught (and believe) that advertising first and foremost needs to solve […]
Customer experience is about making promises and keeping them.
The airline industry takes a beating when it comes to customer satisfaction surveys but I have to share a great experience…an experience that set the right expectation and delivered on it. I was flying Jacksonville to Philadelphia and the flight attendant conveyed a promise and set an expectation: she said it’d be 1 hour and […]
Customer experience is everyone’s job.
I was at a Dunkin Donuts drive-thru yesterday and noticed this dashboard that tracks speed of service. I told the teen that was working the window how great the dashboard was. She said “there’s too much red and not enough green…I have some work to do.” This young lady may be earning a few bucks […]