One last behavioral trend to round out a few recent posts on behaviors that correlate with importance. The others were on leaders having the least stuff, being the least hurried, and the most common route to becoming CEO. People know this one, though they don’t always act consistently with it. Look throughout an organization. The higher you move in the organization chart, the more responsibility people have. Having responsibility because[…] Keep reading →
“What is the best route to become CEO of a corporation?“ For people driven to reach the top it’s a common question. A classmate asked it of Ralph Biggadike, professor of Top Management Processes, which, when I was at Columbia Business School, was the class in highest demand. Ralph is an excellent teacher, as knowledgeable about top management as you’d expect one of the top professors at one of the[…] Keep reading →
Yesterday I posted on making four-year-olds sing that they love something, accepting it was probably a tempest in a teacup. I also noted similar incidents may contribute to reinforcing what seems to me telling children what to think and feel. The incident reminded me of Woodie Guthrie‘s writing “This Land Is Your Land” as a response to hearing “God Bless America” over and over in the late 30s, implying these[…] Keep reading →
At my niece’s kindergarten graduation Friday the entire graduating class of four-and-five-year-olds sang a song with a chorus “I love America.” The song was light-hearted and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. As a thoughtful person, I couldn’t help think about what having a whole class sing the song meant. I enjoy playing with ideas and what better time to ponder education than at a graduation? I’ll be the first to[…] Keep reading →
Lillian Chan is an independent film producer and friend who has attended and recorded a couple of my seminars and now my gallery opening. She wrote a few paragraphs reviewing the seminars.
Following up on yesterday’s post about one aspect of behavior — how much stuff you carry and how functional you are — that correlates with importance is how calm or rushed you are. Likewise, how purposeful or reactive you are. People who know their priorities tend not to be rushed. They know what should be done in what order and they do it. So it’s not surprising that people who[…] Keep reading →
Important people do things differently than unimportant people — that is, behavior correlates with importance. If you want people to consider you more important — to trust and defer to you — you should pick up on how behavior correlates with importance. And with unimportance if you want to avoid being lumped in with unimportant people. The more important you are, the less you carry. The following corporate examples are[…] Keep reading →
Two observations I’ve made about how good people are at things: People who aren’t good at something talk about how awesome they are at it. People who are great at something talk about the humiliations and failures that got them good at it. I’ve found this pattern far more accurate than I would have expected. I love hearing stories from people about the disasters that made them who they are.[…] Keep reading →
People confuse someone else’s values being different from their own with being worse than their own. If other people’s values were worse, then statements like the following two would portend the end of society. The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no[…] Keep reading →