THE INFAMOUS BLOG

I was getting my flu shot, the other day, and my pharmacist started complaining about her job. Her parent company is breathing down her neck. “These guys at corporate? They measure everything.” When the phone rings, and it’s a doctor, they want her to answer it in under three rings. Her average is 3.6 rings,…

Something is in the water. Yoga is the new HR teambuilding activity. I say this because I’ve been to several human resources meetings, this year, and leaders are forcing their colleagues and direct reports to wake up early and do yoga. And I use the word “forcing” because attendance is mandatory. You wake up early,…

About a year ago, a former HR colleague called me in a panic. She was asked to help design a new office layout. Nobody would have offices or cubicle walls, not even the CEO. “We’re going to lose people,” she told me. I just checked in with her, and she did lose people. Quite a…

Leadership literature is rubbish. I know this because I’m friendly with many of those authors, and they approach the concept of leadership as an elusive, dichotomous quality: either you got it, or you don’t. Paternal Persona The first problem with the discussion around leadership is that it’s rooted in a masculine, fatherly framework. The best…