- Learn the art of talking to people. I don’t care if you are the CEO, the head of a department, or even the president’s son. Whatever! Master the art of using the appropriate language and tone.
- Personal verbal attacks are not cool at work. I don’t care what they did; you cannot tell a colleague that personal incompetence at work is why they have a failed marriage. Come on, man!
- Never underestimate the power of consistency. Do it today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, the day after the day after tomorrow and the day after that. Just keep doing it. Nike!
- I heard of a CEO who throws staplers at employees when he’s angry. Damn! That’s all I can say.
- Be careful not to punish competence. We naturally want our highest talent for the most critical projects and tasks. But we end up going to them too often. By leaning so heavily on the same team members, we unintentionally punish them for being highly competent. Losing high talent because they are overworked and overtasked is never a winning strategy. People who break don’t do any work. Credit: Admired Leadership Newsletter.
- Avoiding stupidity is usually easier than seeking brilliance. Credit: Farnam Street Blog.
- Can we agree on the fact that there are now some unforgiveables? Case in point: business writing with bad grammar and punctuation. I mean, Forbes describes Grammarly as “a tool that amongst other things, prevents you from sounding like a fool.”
- Everyone needs a few “Foreign Prison Friends.” One of the main goals of life is to have a few friends who you can reliably count on to break you out of a foreign prison if it comes down to it. At a minimum, you need a friend who can figure out how to call the relevant high-ranking authorities to make it happen. Credit: Curiosity Chronicle by Sahil Bloom.
- Don’t worry about being the most interesting person in the room, just try to be the most interested person in the room. Credit: 3–2–1 Thursdays by James Clear.
- Nobody ever died from taking one step at a time or managing one project at a time. Do not be swayed by the evangelists for busyness masquerading as “go-getters.”
- When you identify your destiny, you have to be selfish, maniacal, and uncompromising about it. You may even have to be delusional about it, but remember, it is only delusional until it works. Credit: Busta Rhymes.
- It is easy to feel terrible under the guise of “If I knew what I know now, I would have acted differently.” I have come to learn that sometimes we need a previous mindset to survive for that moment and also lead us to our current point of realisation. When in doubt, remember that you cannot unfry an egg.
- Never underestimate the power of the unplanned. Sometimes all you need is someone to take an interest in you or that random colleague you have never met, willing to go the extra mile for you. There’s an ease that comes with it; it’s divine-like. You can call it being favoured as you never know the motive behind such random acts of kindness. However, it’s also counterintuitive to bet on luck, although it’s quite human.
- Dear Business Leader, you may want to place your childhood friend in a position of power and influence in your company. I get it. I do. However, please make sure they are competent and have a proper head on their shoulders.
- You have to stand your ground when you need to stand your ground. You have to say no when you need to say no and mean it. It takes a level of integrated malevolence to do this. However, once it is integrated, it becomes strength of character. Credit: Jordan Peterson.
- We cannot or should not plan our lives around the occurrence of rare events. However, don’t underestimate the impact of rare events, e.g., a big break. Need an example? Remember Peter telling Jesus that they had toiled all night and caught nothing, but at His word, they needed help to haul in the catch? Cast that net!
- Are you planning an event, project, or product launch? Cool! Can we agree that we will be as realistic as possible and not sound like fools when we come up with a plan?
- You do not want to become someone who isn’t fun to be around. Why? People will only put up with your nonsense for so long, and then they’ll leave you alone because no one wants to be around people who are cranky and constantly hostile, chronically complain, and talk endlessly. And when they leave you alone, you become even more resentful and alone. Ask yourself, “Am I resentful? Why am I resentful, and how do I stop being resentful?”
- This might sound cliche. Pay attention when people talk to you. Irrespective of where you place them in the social, economic, or competence hierarchy, assume there is something they know that you don’t; listen for listening sake, not simply to throw a response. I am highlighting this because I know it’s hard. I also do not rule out the fact that listening to some people can feel like a chore.
- Never underestimate the power of delusion and self-delusion. When in doubt, remember that some people think the earth is flat, and a preacher once said that 5G was the cause of COVID-19, and rational people stood by him.
- For Chrissake, keep things simple. This is not a case against being thorough; there are genuinely complex situations that might require a complicated approach. However, when possible, keep things simple!
- I’d probably get crucified for this one. In an age when people easily get triggered and offended, I believe it is a life skill to be able to take a joke and not be a snowflake. For example, I have a big head (a friend once called me Johnny Bravo), I am also a scatterbrain who struggles to focus, and I joke about these things. It’s nothing personal; a good joke never killed anybody.
- I don’t know who needs to hear this. “God will not let it happen” is not a plan. Sit down, draw up a plan, have a backup if it fails, consider second and third-order consequences, and carry out pre-mortems. Selah!
A corporate wanderer and reluctant project manager who's just trying to find meaning in work. I only write about what I experience and struggle with.