Latest Blog Posts

Two of my musical heroes passed away this fall.  First, my conducting mentor at Arizona State University, conductor of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, and former Principal Trombonist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Henry Charles Smith; and most recently, the estimable lyricist and composer, Stephen Sondheim. Both were American intellectual and musical giants who significantly inspired me, both Renaissance men, and both nonagenarians at the time […]

In this TED video, Drew Dudley (tell me his parents didn’t name him after some fictional cowboy figure), helps us recognize the power of everyday leadership.  It’s an amazing concept that we should all aspire to.  Drew talks about a “lollypop moment”.  It’s a moment that I think many of us, as leaders and as regular […]

I Love Cheesecake, But Man Is It Expensive The truth is, I love cakes, I really do. The recipe that was handed down to me by my mother has all the elements of a fabulous New York style creamy cheesecake heavy on the graham cracker crust (my favorite part) and a sour cream topping that adds just the right […]

Looks can be deceiving, so we stick to tried and true Pareto.  My team (steeped in the 80/20 rule or Pareto Principle) came to me with this; Trello’s (new?) way of adding priorities to cards – and I have to say it looks very cool.  Unfortunately, this time Trello got it wrong. Looks can be deceiving.  Ok Trello fans, before you dismiss me […]

Lacking Discipline? Get Values Cheerleaders  I’ve been flying for over 50 years. How a plane defies gravity with its own massive weight along with the weight of passengers, baggage and freight is, for me, always mind-boggling. Every time I fly.  Core values of flight  An airplane is designed and constructed by teams of thousands of individuals meticulously following an explicitly detailed master plan. Each step enables it […]

Dear M. Bernard Arnault, Leave Greta Thunberg alone. Did you publicly criticize climate 16-year-old activist Greta Thunberg for “surrendering to catastrophism”?  Really? I am so astounded by your comment, which I read moments ago in Forbes Magazine that I simply had to write to you and make sure that there was no error involved. Surely, […]

A Simple Rule to Run Effective Meetings Ask your team to identify their biggest productivity killer and inevitably two issues will rise to the top of the list: managing their inboxes and their useless meeting schedules. I’ll tackle the former in a future post. For now, I’d like to focus on increasing the value of […]

Is Personal Coaching Exclusively for People with Problems? A potential client wrote me an email the other day. He explained that he had decided that he didn’t need personal coaching nor professional coaching. He said his business was going fine and he didn’t have any emotional issues to work out. His reasoning raised one of […]

How to have a great work relationship with your boss? (Spare her the details) One common complaint among leaders is that they feel bogged down by verbal details from direct reports.  For this reason, I have created a list of five tips for having a great work relationship and to provide direct reports with just […]

What the Heck is Personal Coaching? A super-smart criminal lawyer and potential client emailed me the other day. He reasoned that he had decided not to pursue personal coaching because his business was going fine and he didn’t have any emotional issues to work out.  My eyebrows arched. He got me thinking: What do people […]

How to break a habit that makes your life miserable: an exercise I stumbled upon Thomas Oppong’s article, Why Eliminating Behaviors That Make You Miserable Can Make You Happier, which references a book by Randy J. Paterson, Ph.D., How to Be Miserable: 40 Strategies You Already Use.  I thought it could be helpful to create […]

  In this TED talk video, Simon Sinek takes about qualities that good leaders have. One attribute that Simon highlights in the video is willingness to sacrifice. Simon connects how military leaders willing to sacrifice themselves builds trust and safety among their subordinates – a quality that many business leaders are not known for. Compellingly, […]

Self-Help: Better to disappoint than disappear   I always say, it’s better to disappoint and disappear We’ve all been in situations where we were confronted with having to disappoint someone, whether it’s a friend, family member or a business partner. We kept putting it off because we wanted to avoid the ensuing conflict, justifiably or […]

4 Reasons People Don’t Try A Work Coach and One Why You Should Here are the four most common reasons most people never try a work coach or professional coaching, I’m fine without it It’s mainly for top executives I like doing things my way even if it’s not the perfect way It’s too expensive […]

To use a habit tracker app or not to use a habit tracker app Getting into a habit tracker app (apps that help us remember to study our Spanish, do our push-ups in the morning and drink at least 1½ liters of water) are springing up.  Do they really work?  That’s a question I had […]

How to improve team productivity and how to measure it This is where most companies succeed or fail. We’ve all seen big companies start from the ground up. Microsoft, Apple, Uber and many others have shown us that we can go from an idea to a successful business with the right bases. These bases are […]

Business Tips: How most people blow their first business meeting and how can You save yours You land a meeting with a prospect that you’ve been researching for quite some time.  Then you make the same mistake that most salespeople make:  You book an hour-long meeting at her office, next thing you know, you blew […]

8 Surprising Tips to Boost your Productivity Here at LeanMail, we’ve seen that the key factor for productivity and successful email management it is not only to have the right tools and training but to be open to change. So it shouldn’t be a big surprise that Behavioral Change is a trending topic. The more […]

This TED Video from October 2008, is in fact, timely with the recent release of the new Spielberg film, Lincoln . Pulitzer Prize-winner Doris Kearns Goodwin is an eloquent speaker who shares a number of fun anecdotes and stories – especially from her times with Former President Lyndon B. Johnson. The theme here is understanding that we need […]

I recently purchased dysfunctional products/services from three vendors who were unwilling to go outside company rules to fix the problems they caused. How can we take part in the Trust Economy if our corporate rules preclude us from taking care of customers? Too often there’s a divergence between company rules and customer needs. I’ll use […]

Rabbi Dr. Abraham’s lobster video is a great lesson to us in a compact 90 seconds. The lesson: Times of stress are also times that are signals for growth. Feeling stressed? Perhaps it’s time for positive change. Duration: 01:56 Find out more about our Executive Leadership Coaching Program. Click HERE to watch the video. Happy […]

This was an unexpected source of inspiration for me and perhaps the shortest Friday video ever, but definitely worth a quick view. Less than two minutes. Duration: 01:56 Find out more about our Executive Leadership Coaching Program. Click HERE to watch the video. Happy Friday!

This TED video, heds light on one of the most important topics of our time: What makes a good life? As a consultant and executive coach, I take my own medicine and ensure that I consistently reserve time for family and friends, this is what I believe helps me achieve a good life. But just like […]

In this TED video, Roselinde Torres shares with us what it takes to be a great leader in the 21st century, and she does so with conviction. Can you answer these three questions? Where are you looking to anticipate change? What is the diversity measure of your network? Are you courageous enough to abandon the […]

It’s been a long time since our last video and that’s mainly because I have been super busy launching LeanMail Mobile (an iPhone app for LeanMail users), Inbox480 (automatically separates non-essential from essential mails) and developing Feemails (the end of spam). So a new inspiring video is long overdue. In this TED video, Ricardo Semler […]

How often do your on-line meetings start on time? Not often enough, I’ll bet. Funny, there’s no traffic to fight, no coffee to get, no coats to hang, and still, very few people are able to manage getting to on on-line meeting prepared and on time. Let’s be clear: this is not an IT problem; […]

W. Edwards Deming, in this Youtube video, says, “What needs to be done, can only be done by top management.”  What do you think?  Has this idea become outdated or can we still learn from the master? Duration: 09:07 Find out more about our Executive Leadership Coaching Program. Click HERE to watch the video. Happy Friday! […]

We enter into collaborations assuming we’ll succeed as teamwork partners. Yet we rarely achieve true partnership: Because we listen uniquely and through biased filters we sometimes mistakenly presume intent or misconstrue what’s been said and agreed upon. Problem: Flawed assumptions, wasted time and relationship capital, and restricted scope. There is often not enough diversity to […]

This TedTalk video was sent to me by my client John Heard in San Antonio, TX.  John runs an amazing organization called Heard & Smith, a law firm specializing in Social Security Disability Law.  John is a great example of a CEO who leads by principals.  He has great clarity about how important clear, concise, […]

As business folk, we hold meetings regularly. Yet often we don’t accomplish what we set out to achieve. Why? The Purpose Meetings are held to accomplish a specific, beneficial outcome requiring the attendance of the right people with the right agenda. The Problem/Pain Often we end up with miscommunication, wasted time, incomplete outcomes, misunderstanding, lack […]

You land a meeting with a prospect that you’ve been researching for quite some time.  Then you make the same mistake that most sales people make:  you book an hour-long meeting at her office. What’s wrong with that?  Plenty.  The chances of converting that meeting into a sale are quite slim at this point.  So […]

I’m a dancer. When I studied the Argentine Tango there was a foundational rule that I believe is true for all leaders: The leader opens the door for the follower to pass through, and the leader then follows. If anyone notices the leader, he’s not doing his job. The goal is to showcase the follower. […]

Do FIRST the things you MUST do You can relieve stress, ensure that you make deadlines, and give yourself a greater sense of control simply by following one general rule: Do the things you absolutely HAVE to do as soon as you can do them.  — Or, put another way: Do first the things you […]

With 300+ likes and 1K shares, the strategy article 8 things every leader should know about strategy somehow struck a nerve. But as many readers pointed out correctly, it’s one thing to know what strategy is all about, but it’s another to get out there and come up with one. As you will probably agree, there is […]

Training successfully educates only those who are predisposed to the new material. Others may endeavor to learn during class but may not permanently adopt it. The problem isn’t the value of information or the eagerness of the learner: It’s a problem with both the training model itself and the way learners learn. It’s a systems/change […]

a When there are conflicts in the workplace it is usually because of poor communication or interpersonal communication challenges. Leaders are challenged on a daily basis to interact effectively with others. The most successful leaders are emotionally intelligent agile. They know how to read people and are savvy in their communications. The good news is […]

This youtube video is GREAT for introducing Lean to your colleagues.  Most of the basics are included and the production quality of the video is very good. Duration: 9:30 Find out more about our Executive Leadership Coaching Program. Click HERE to watch the video. Happy Friday! Michael Hoffman  

Task Execution Tip-Sheet Introduction Knowledge workers understand, on at least some level, the importance of getting things done on time and in the right order.  And yet, this is consistently one of the biggest problems organizations face.  The aim of this article is not to give instructions on how to prioritize, plan, and execute tasks, […]

In this YouTube video you’ll relive those agonizing on-line meeting moments that make you want to pull out your hair!  You’ll be jumping up and down shouting: “So true!”.  Share this with colleagues – especially those who need some help in this area. Although it’s fun to poke fun at this, virtual conference calls are […]

This Youtube video comes from a new member to our list, HR expert Marigrace McKay. It does an excellent job of documenting the history of change management.  The first few minutes are a focused on the history of change, so if that is not interesting, skip to 3:58 to get to the meatier portion that […]

Love him or hate him (It’s not easy to be in the middle with Tony Robbins), this three-minute clip is one of the best of Tony Robbins’ video out-takes. He travels very quickly through some monumentally important themes, so it’s a good idea to spend another three minutes contemplating the pillars of self-understanding. Duration: 3:03 […]

In this Youtube video, Dr. Kotter talks about how to win over both hearts and minds in his book The Heart of Change. Within Dr Kotter’s 8 Step Process winning hearts and minds is an important part of business thinking and a way to change behavior in an organizational or a cultural change. If you […]

Many thanks to our client, Mitch Sowards, from www.entrust.us.com (Managed IT Services in Texas), for providing this Friday’s fabulously entertaining video. We believe that we should work to be happy, but could that be backwards? In this fast-moving and entertaining talk, psychologist Shawn Achor argues that actually happiness inspires productivity. Duration: 12:21 Find out more about our […]

Atrendia Friday Video 18 – When It Comes To Productivity, Technology Can Hurt And Help Ok, this week the Atrendia Friday Video is not a video, but a podcast. I’m sure that many of you wonder if we are really getting a lot of productivity out of all these social “productivity” tools. This NPR podcast […]

This TED video is a fun quickie.  Is there something you’ve always meant to do, wanted to do, but just … haven’t? Matt Cutts suggests: Try it for 30 days. This short, lighthearted talk offers a neat way to think about setting and achieving goals. The trick is to decide what you’re 30-day challenge is […]

When the dotcom bubble burst, hotelier Chip Conley went in search of a business model based on happiness. In an old friendship with an employee and in the wisdom of a Buddhist king, he learned that success comes from what you count. In this TED video, ChiChip Conley debates not the act of measuring but […]

Last summer my girlfriend and I received a text message from her 17-year-old son telling us that he was headed up to our summer/weekend home with a suprprise – a puppy. Now I’m going to cut to the quick: we had our first major discussion. It’s not that I don’t like dogs.  I do.  I grew […]

Last week, Yahoo!, CEO Marissa Mayer, sent out a memo (directive) intended to stifle Yahoo! employees’ ability to work from home. She effectively put an end to telecommuting for all Yahoo! employees. Interesting. In one memo, in almost silent desperation, Mayer tries to close the lid on an unstoppable movement called the future of work. […]

I LOVE this Ted video.  Many of you know that before becoming a consultant I conducted symphony orchestras, and it is from this musical tradition that I received most of my leadership skills and philosophy.  Itay Talgam perfectly captures the various ways that conductors lead musicians (employees) and he deftly illustrates how different forms of leadership […]

THE most common objection our sales executives (that’s the two of us) receive from a potential customer is: I know what you’re going to say (nervous ha ha) because it doesn’t really make sense (nervous ha ha), but we don’t have the time to do this right now even though we realize how much time […]

In this youtube video, Carly Fiorina speaks about how leadership is a combination of capability, collaboration and character.  She underlines that it is up to, and the responsibility of, leaders to drive change.  To take risks, to keep learning and to change the order of things are things that only leaders can do. Duration: 5:03 This […]

In this youtube video, Dr Patrick Dixon speaks about leading by leading by helping people connect with their passion. We’ve all heard this message before in various books and speeches, so it is not that I hope to introduce something new but to inspire you to continue on this path and to rejuvenate your commitment […]

In this short but important Youtube video, Tom Peters, the author of the best seller: In Search of Excellence, relays some important advice about how leaders should view their employees. It’s only a couple of minutes long, but I hope that it resonates with you. Click here to start the video Link to the Atrendia Executive Leadership Coaching […]

Almost every time I would ask someone in a public place if they needed help lifting or carrying a heavy package or luggage in the subway, train station or up flights of steps – usually a woman for obvious reasons of physical limitations – they told me “No, that’s ok” or “No thanks, I’m fine”.  […]

In this TED video behavioral economist Dan Ariely, the author of Predictably Irrational, uses classic visual illusions and his own counterintuitive (and sometimes shocking) research findings to show how we’re not as rational as we think when we make decisions. It’s become increasingly obvious that the dismal science of economics is not as firmly grounded […]

In this TED video Simon Sinek explains why people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. Simon Sinek has a simple but powerful model for inspirational leadership all starting with a golden circle and the question “Why?”  His examples include Apple, Martin Luther King, and the Wright Brothers. Duration: 18:05 Click here […]

This TED video helps us understand why having more choice actually makes us feel worse.  As Barry points out, “The secret to happiness is low expectations”. Psychologist Barry Schwartz takes aim at a central tenet of western societies: freedom of choice. In Schwartz’s estimation, choice has made us not freer but more paralyzed, not happier […]

Jim Collins argues for getting the right people on the bus instead of trying to motivate.

Don’t be put off by Lencioni’s affected manner.  His book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, should be made mandatory for all leaders.  This short video is a good introduction to him and his philosophy.

I had an excellent session with a client today in which he told me about how he had to bring one of his employees into his office to remind him that, ”we simply can’t make these mistakes around here”.  My client told me that he had berated the employee with calm but stern voice, meaning […]

One of my clients made a very astute comment the other day. He said, It should be self-evident that a company can have too many managers and not enough leaders. But can you have too many leaders?  In many respects I am trying to develop my team managers into team leaders because I don’t have […]

More than anything else, perfectionist and self-critical attitudes about ourselves are what kills our productivity.  These attitudes are most often revealed in the form of procrastination, but procrastination is not the demon; it is the messenger. Neil Fiore, in his book, The Now Habit, defines procrastination as: A mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated […]

Here is a great article from the New York Times on this very important topic.  Michael Hoffman

I call this entry “Stress I”  because it will be the first in a series.  Stress is such an important topic in just about everybody’s lives that it makes sense to revisit it often. I read and listened to many people’s opinions about the need for stress as motivation. But can someone tell me of an […]

Software is not the solution for Unified Communications (UC) and Collaboration, but it is an important element. The solution is to make sure that the ends justify the means. Our demands for accessible, collaborative and engaging experiences are at an all-time high.  so whether you decide to employ Microsoft Lync, Avaya, IBM, SAP, Oracle, Adobe, […]

I met her at the airport. The connection was riveting. I had never felt anything like it. Sleek, sophisticated, elegant.  She totally blew me away. I had heard about others who had fallen into this same trap but I had always scoffed it off as having a lack of discipline.  “You’ll be back before you […]