If you are a leader, you are going to attract critics. It is inevitable. In fact, if you are’t attracting critics, you should be wondering why. Criticism is normal.

Leaders frequently tell me they have a hard time recruiting great people to join their organizations. When I ask about their hiring process, I often find one missing element: sales. Recruiting great people is similar to any kind of sales process. Your company is the product. Prospective employees are your customers. The recruiting process is […]

If you’re in a position of leadership, chances are better than good you’re going to blow it with your people sooner or later. It’s like messing things up in your marriage. Don’t ask me how I know this, but it’s inevitable from time to time. There are pluses and minuses to that comparison, but one […]

I am not the first person to make this observation, but it is worth repeating. Too often, I meet young leaders are frustrated because they can’t control every aspect of the process. If only the sales department reported to me, I could improve my results.“

Productivity doesn’t just increase your efficiency. If you do it right, it can also increase your income. The problem is that traditional systems get productivity all wrong. They define productivity as the ability to do more and do it faster. But that approach just accelerates the hamster wheel we’re already on. Instead of getting ahead, […]

Is it just me, or is our modern work culture bleeding us dry? It’s not just our cell phones and computer screens that draw our eyes at all hours. As much as we might want to blame technology, the root of our struggle to have satisfactory days goes much deeper. Far too often, we think, […]

We all know that sitting for long periods of time isn’t good for our bodies. Standing boosts our energy and our mood. That’s why I use and recommend a standup desk. But there’s more to it than more time on your feet. It’s also important to get those feet moving. Our bodies just aren’t designed to […]

The fear of missing out isn’t worth much, but FOMO costs us a lot. That’s especially true when it comes to our productivity. It’s like a powerful undertow, invisible on the surface of our work, which can pull us away in the current. Right after I left as CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, an online […]

Email is indispensable. But it can feel like a necessary evil for a lot of us. Our inboxes are flooded with information and requests from customers, clients, coworkers, friends, and family. Not to mention all the spam, BACN, and random junk. I’ve seen inboxes with tens of thousands of emails—hundreds, even thousands unread. People feel […]

When I think of one word to describe contemporary work habits, it’s unsustainable. We’re working drastically longer hours, while incurring high physical and emotional costs, for only marginal gains in productivity. We created this infographic to illustrate some interesting (and surprising) stats on our struggle with productivity in the modern workplace. Feel free to share […]