Dissatisfaction is the starting point to success, so we should look for it and cherish its lessons. In my work, I commonly come across this idea of ‘satisfaction’ as a driver in companies and organizations. Not only the all-too-important customer satisfaction but also employee satisfaction, shareholder satisfaction, and so on…

Practical things are difficult to correct because you often don’t notice them. But they could make a whole lot of difference. As a recruiter, I read hundreds of CVs. Every day I read at least five to ten. And as I do this, day after day, I find myself frowning…

There is no one-type of leader. Not even a small set of types of leaders. But defining them as LSTKs and GELs makes all the sense to me and has been useful over the years. As I watched a video where Simon Sinek speaks about Introvert Leaders, you can find…

Ambiguity is a fact of life. If you can manage it and diminish the fear of it, people will follow you. Be sure of that, if you want to be sure of anything. Ambiguity, that perception that something is not clear, that there is doubt and undefinition, that facts don’t…

Time is a game of mirrors — it depends on your point of view. Creativity and productivity are about Life and about learning what it’s all about. Here’s a bit of my journey. A few years ago, I was sitting in a half-full theater at a provincial Portuguese town, and…

Dialogues are a very stimulating and complex part of the work for me. Some time ago I wrote Part 1 of this post about Dialogue where I went through five techniques I use. Here are five more. I wish I really knew how to write only in dialogues like Hemingway…

Most leaders I know deeply feel the responsibility upon their shoulders. They know they can fail at any moment but they are often surprised when it happens and can’t figure out why it happened. Here are a few common reasons for leadership failure. Many leaders feel they failed when they…

Stories are the way Mankind has learned for most of its history. So why can they be so ineffective in the corporate setting? Over the last decade or two, corporate storytelling has become an important factor in the way leaders communicate with their employees. It’s a wise trend. Stories have…

Some leaders are surprised to find out their employees just don’t trust them. How to avoid that awful feeling? Over the last few decades, leaders learned to care for their employees, to motivate them and give positive feedback. Many have overcome the entrapments of Taylor’s scientific management and appreciate that…