The Dangers of Leaders Who Don’t Listen

August 1, 2022

Good morning!

Happy Birthday tomorrow, Tuesday, to the woman who has befriended me, cared for me, loved me, and contributed significantly to my happiness this past half century.

(She usually reads these… we’ll see if she does today.)

And thanks to YOU, the reader who inspires me and motivates me to keep these messages flowing each Monday morning fifty-two times a year.

Thank you!

• Looking for ways to beat this inflation — which appears to be maybe ameliorating just a bit?
  • Park your internal combustion engine, buy a huge big screen TV and a Rolex to keep track of when your favourite show comes on, grill your favourite steak (gasp!), and punch (text) your way to happiness as you use and enjoy things that cost less than a year ago.

The Dangers of Leaders Who Don’t Listen

• “Leaders who don’t listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say.”  (Stanley)
• We are seeing the rapid acceleration away from the traditional model of education leading to work leading to retirement…
  • About which some people despair, but why?
  • The new, and arguably more exciting and enriching, model might be childhood and adolescent experiences leading to formal education leading to exploration leading to a variety of employment experiences leading to perhaps an entrepreneurial venture leading to a side gig leading to charitable work, NGO, or government service/ giving back leading to mentoring leading to never a full retirement.  (MIT Sloan Mngt, 2022)
• No leader is without fear (Eades, 2022)
  • Rejecting fear and choosing courage dictates your future;
  • The battle against fear is permanent; choosing courage to overcome fear is temporary;
  • Uncertainty is why leadership is needed;
  • Great leaders don’t accept fear as a decision, they expect courage;
  • No human is without fear; what’s required is the ability to rise above it in the moments that matter.  (Holiday)
• “An explorer cannot stay at home reading maps others have made.”  (Clarke)
• Our new Poet Laureate is Ada Limón, but I will confess to thus far not having a visceral connection to her words.
  • If you have had a good experience with Ada, please send a tutorial.
• At a store I frequent you can buy an already-cooked whole chicken for $4.90
  • If you’re sufficiently prepared and have brought along a bib, a towel, and a wash tub, you can eat it on the way home.
  • That same exact chicken — comparable size/ weight/ freshness — uncooked costs ~$9.00
• Here is an annoyance de jeur:  When and how to say, You’re welcome, instead of other phrases.
  • Is it possible to stop the trend of saying thank you when someone says, thank you?  e.g., especially talking heads on television news shows?
• It’s a rare manager, CEO, or owner who isn’t talking about identifying, recruiting, and retaining talent.
  • In convo with someone just yesterday who had filled a position with an A+ person only to have that person leave for something else in just 17 days.
    • McKinsey, with its trillions of data points, tells us what we already intuitively know.
      • People are leaving their jobs, raw data at least, for the following reasons in descending order:  (Pay attention)
      • Lack of career development and advancement — 41%
      • Inadequate total compensation — 36%
      • Uncaring and/or uninspiring leaders — 34%
      • Lack of meaningful work — 31%
      • Unsustainable work expectations — 29%
      • Unreliable and unsupportive people at work — 26%
      • Lack of workplace flexibility — 26%
      • Lack of support for health and well-being — 26%
      • There are four (4) more reasons in the 2022 McKinsey study that pack just one-third the punch of the #1 reason up above.
      • (Percentages don’t add to 100 because some respondents gave multiple reasons for leaving work.)
      • Non Inclusive and/or unwelcoming environment — 14%
      • Geographic ties and/or travel demands — 13%
      • Unsafe work environment — 13%
      • Inadequate resource accessibility — 11%