Wandering Into Wisdom

This blog chronicles the knowledge, insight and wisdom I encounter every day as a leadership consultant, executive coach, educator, father, friend and citizen. This site is dedicated to my father, Louis (Jack) Laughlin, who passed on to me an appreciation for wisdom. A special thanks to my friend Isaac Cheifetz, a businessman and journalist, who helped me understand the value of blogs and encouraged me to write one.

Intellect

"We should take care not to make the intellect our god: it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality."
Albert Einstein

Focus

If your objective is the target, your aim should be the bullseye.

Fear to Aspire

It is generally better to pursue your aspirations and face your fears, than flee your fears and suppress your aspirations.

Persuade Me

While coercion typically results in halfhearted compliance, persuasion leads to willing cooperation.

1) Listen until you completely understand and empathize.
2) Express points of agreement.
3) Present remaining challenges and opportunities.
4) Collaborate on solutions.

Insecurity

Many times, insecurity is even more of an impediment to humility than arrogance.

Arguments

The difference between conflict and combat is that conflict seeks a resolution while combat focuses on winning.

24 Hour Rule

An excerpt from Harvard Business Review.

“So we put a rule in place. It says: 'You have 24 hours to take a new and emerging issue, try to understand it and see if you can resolve it yourself. After that, you have to go public with it.' It's an escalation process. Because with a lot of these issues, we can solve them pretty quickly by applying the intellect we have in this company.”  Ford Motor Company

Link to Complete Blog Post at Harvard Business Review