As a Manager, You Need to Build Your Relationship Before You Need It

“Every situation is different. In medical school you are trained on certain basic emergency situation. One you begin your practice, basically everything that comes before you is a variation of your medical training. Emergency room doctors are creative in their approach, there is never really a situation that is the same.”

That was a quote from the Emergency Medical Doctor this past weekend.

My son and I decided to start back the tradition that we had when he was younger. We would go deep sea fishing, which we had not done in years.

On the boat we had an accident, when my son was trying to unravel fishing lines, someone pulled from the other end. The hook went straight through his thumb. Once we got off the boat, we headed for the emergency room.

Lessons From My Brother On Life, Career, and Taking a Different Path

Last week, I lost my best friend, my college roommate, my mentor, my mentee, my confidant, my consigliere, and most of all, my twin brother.

He passed away from complication from a terrible car accident that he never fully recovered from.
The loss for me is immense and my heart is broken.

Our family traveled to Raleigh/Cary, North Carolina area for the wake/services.

As part of the Thomas family tradition, once all the guests leave the house the night before the funeral, we gather around (just family members and close friends)  to tell stories about the deceased. We have perfected this ritual within the Thomas family.

The Power of the Assist: How Do We Help When No One is Looking?

Not being much of a basketball fan, I admit I have not watched any of the current NBA Finals between Dallas and Miami.

The recap on ESPN during my workout is about it. When I grew up in the south it was always about football, never about basketball.

However, one of the things that has always caught my eye about sports was the amount of metrics that teams compile. While having team leaders with high metrics in each category never assures a winning team, I find it interesting how everything is tracked.

 

You’re Not a Real Leader Until You Can Admit to Screwing Up

Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, said he and other managers didn’t do enough to challenge Facebook when he led the company. “I screwed up,” Schmidt said.

When I saw that statement, it was like two chest bumps. That’s what I am talking about.

There is nothing more exciting for me to see someone fess up to making a mistake. For a leader to do that, it is just awesome.

In this new era of leadership, you can never be a real leader until you pass that hurdle.

My father gave me this advice when I married right out of college. “Don’t ever be afraid to admit you made a mistake. A real man will always fess up,” he told me. My parents were married for 49 years and were in love with each other until the end.

He was always fessing up. I have had my share of doing that, too.

 

How Do We Get Organizations and Employees Back on Track Again?

Mega change!!!

Those were the words that came back from a friend who is the Chief Human Resources Officer of a major global company in New York City. That was her prognosis of what she and the company were facing. The business model that her company had been successfully built on was now in total shambles because the marketplace had changed.

That same day my former employer, Martha Stewart Living, where I served as the VP of Human Resources/OD announced they were seeking “advice and council” by hiring an investment banking firm to gauge the market for a possible sale.

The publishing industry has taken a severe hit with the onslaught of digital media. Advertising revenues took a plunge and the repercussions were severe.

As the day was coming to end, which is always my time for reflection, I got a text from a friend who is a designer for a top flight design firm. As we exchanged texts, I felt that there was an underlying issue. When I peeled back the cover with some searing questions, she told me that she was thinking of changing careers.

Design, which she had loved since a child was no longer fun.

Layoffs as a Strategy: The Message You Send When They’re Done RIGHT

When the phone rang the other day, I recognized the number right away.

It was from a friend of mine; we both have kids around the same age. My wife and his wife are good friends. Therefore this is a call that I always return.

When we finally chatted he said that he needed a favor. He wanted me to have a talk with his daughter.

His daughter, a recent college grad (class of 2010), had just started her new job about three months ago, working for a major brand. Although she had some doubts about this organization from the first day (she arrived and they were not expecting her to start that day), she had given them benefit of the doubt.

One day last week, she got to work and noticed a tenseness in the office atmosphere. Asking around, she eventually realized that they were possibly laying off people.

“What Can HR Learn From… ?” Here’s What You’ll Get When You See That

As I prepare for my day, I tag articles that I will methodically printout, link on Delicious, or just read online.

I do a quick scan of all “my relevant blogs” to get a since of what is being talked about. This has become a time-consuming habit, but it’s a habit I enjoy.

However, there is one common theme that had me scratching my head, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized there is a proliferation of these type of articles. Come to think about it I have written a few.

The common theme is this: “What can HR learn from … ?” Google it and you will get more than 622,000,000 responses.

The HR Learning Model


The learning model is vast and varied: What can HR learn from?

• American Idol;
• The White House gate crashers;
• Undercover Boss;
• Jet Blue;
• FedEx.

The Power of the Narrative: How Storytelling Can Make a Business Case

When my kids were small, one of our greatest activities was after their baths we would all head to their room for story time.


Our Saturday routine was to spend time at Barnes & Noble choosing books for the week.

They would decide which books they wanted read to them; the new ones, or, the same old ones, over and over. I was always amazed how mesmerized they would become with these stories.

It was as if they were in a hypnotic state. They would be so engrossed in the plots that they would literally lull them to sleep.

Story telling has played a role in all of our lives as we grew up. An effective story engages and creates an atmosphere of successful communication between our loved ones, but more of that should also take place at work — not only in our offices, but in our conference rooms as well.

Will Your Recruitment Process be Able to Identify the Heart of a Champion?

There was no way to measure his heart his heart,” his father said.

That quote was from the father of New England Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady — the quarterback who will probably go down in NFL history as one of the very best.

A week ago I was intrigued with a documentary on ESPN titled The Brady 6. I somewhat knew that this story would touch on Brady being drafted at Number 199 in the 2000 pro football draft, and in the 6th round no less. He was completely overlooked by all the teams. Nobody wanted him.

Assessment as part of the HR toolkit

Why? Because based on all the assessments that were done, the consensus was that Brady would not be good enough to make it.

The NFL recruiting process is an amalgam of assessments. They track players closely, sometimes from high school. The glare heats up as players follow their college career. When, and if, they declare to turn pro, they are invited to what is called the NFL combine. More than 300 top prospects normally attend this three-day mini-camp. The question is, do NFL teams choose strength or brains?