Moments
With
Marty

One of the most common reasons that people give for resigning from their job, is that they can’t work for their boss.  We know, from our personal experience, that there isn’t an oversupply of great leaders out there… so, rather than job-hopping every 6 months, we settle for the boss we’ve got, and try to […]

Virtually every company has natural tensions built into its DNA. For example, there’s the classic rub point between sales and operations… it’s easy to sell something, but then – your company has to deliver it. Sales people have a natural tendency to “over sell” a product, sometimes to the point where it’s almost impossible for […]

Many CEOs and senior executives talk a good game when it comes to culture change and transformation… it’s almost expected. But, even though they might make the right noises, it doesn’t necessarily mean they have the commitment to culture change to set a higher standard, or generate the level of momentum it would take to […]

Being right Isn’t everything – it’s just a good start. I came up with this expression many years ago when I worked with an incredibly intelligent executive who struggled to get the outcomes she should have been able to easily achieve. She just couldn’t get buy-in from the people she led. Many leaders like to […]

Have you ever questioned your boss about a particular task, and at the end of a brief exchange, he simply says: “Look, just do it, OK?”  I call these leaders “Nike bosses”, for obvious reasons. Although I’m sure no one sets out to become a Nike boss, sometimes it’s simply the product of a leader […]

Well-run businesses can be boring. They don’t experience frequent crises and they don’t encounter surprises at every turn. Why? Because the leaders understand risk, and they plan accordingly, avoiding the majority of disasters that other companies are routinely forced to face.  As you may know, I started my career in IT, well before this was […]

What are the drivers that make senior leaders so prone to believing their own bullshit? There are several psychological factors at play.  The first factor is that we all want people to think that we’re capable and competent. We want to seem as though we have the answers. And we want to appear noble and […]

A great documentary was made several years ago called Back and Forth, which chronicled the formation and rise to stardom of the rock band, the Foo Fighters. Dave Grohl, the band’s founder, and the former drummer of legendary grunge band, Nirvana, had transitioned to front man. He was the Foo Fighters lead singer and guitarist. […]

How do you, as a leader, set appropriate boundaries in your work relationships? How do you strike the balance between establishing trust-based, caring relationships with your people, and maintaining professional distance?  Call me overly-cautious, but I’ve come to the view over the years that leaders simply should not have romantic relationships in the workplace.  I […]

Blaming others when something doesn’t go to plan is one of the most insidious (and unfortunately, most common) leadership behaviors. It’s a cancer in your culture that has to be eradicated.  When a leader tolerates the blame game, excuses become the norm, and organizational politics thrives.  I came to believe over time that excuses are […]