Tag: leadership development

Hidden Costs

One thing that drove me crazy when I was paying for my sins in corporate America was all of the hidden costs inside the organization.  As a corporate manager I was always asked to cut expenses.  However, I was rarely asked to look at those hidden costs.  The costs that were silent killers.  For example:

  • Meetings.  Need I say more?
  • Training events that were the equivalent of a U2 concert.  Entertainment versus learning here.  Feels good in the moment, but forgotten when it counts.
  • Employees and their organizations who don't fully understand the difference between time and results.
  • Outdated policies and procedures written 20 years ago that are as relevant as a powder blue tuxedo.
  • Hiring practices that are driven by HR.  The hiring of talent is not a legal process.

If your organization really wants to be efficient and lean, then take a look at the hidden costs. It could lead to a new curve.  Failure to look always leads to atrophy.  And as we know atrophy lives next door to extinction.

A Life of Imitation-Updated 2010

I wonder about the identities of high-level executives in today's corporate world.  To be fair, I wonder about your identity.  This is not meant to judge you, but to express my concern.  Sorta like, if you knew I was planning on driving drunk, you'd tell me to hand over the keys.  Identity isn't always that straight forward, but it is as important.

Maybe like the CEO, you're someone who became what the organization demanded or seduced you with.  What about that burning desire to perform?  Regardless, somewhere along the line, a career of imitation began.  Now before you say that I'm picking on executives or corporate types here, these statements are for all of us. 

Are you who you really are, or are you an imitation?  What does the face-behind-the-face look like? 

Being authentic requires a willingness to be real.  It requires the courage to say, "I don't believe in this crap."  Pardon my frankness, but maybe that's where authenticity begins.  Saying what we really feel.  I'm not recommending that you just blurt something out just because you "feel it."  I am recommending that you be honest with yourself by admitting and doing something about it. 

So what gives with the imitating?  Find the vision and you'll realize that you don't have time to be anyone other than who you are. 

In the end, the only people who matter are those who dig the authentic you.