Want to lead your people? Learn from them.
The excellent leadership site Switch and Shift posted my latest article, which reveals the virtues of being coached by people who work for you.
View ArticleIs There Vice In Your Nice?
It's a good idea to do the right thing, right? But when is the "right thing" really an excuse for paralyzing perfectionism, learned helplessness and spite? When we subscribe to virtues so much that we...
View ArticleConsulting Magazine Spotlights Tipping Sacred Cows
The December, 2012 issue of Consulting Magazine featured a strong review of Tipping Sacred Cows. From the review: Breeden's work identifies the seven most common sacred cows at work--including balance...
View ArticleSacred Cows Blocking the Fast Track?
In her post at The Fast Track, Alexandra Levit examines five sacred cows from my upcoming book. Thanks Alexandra!
View ArticleCharlie Green Tips the Sacred Cows of Trust
Charlie Green, trust guru, has been a mentor of mine for many years. His most recent book, The Trusted Advisor Fieldbook, provides concrete tools and proven steps to build trust where and when you need...
View ArticleMore Trust, More Guts, Fewer Buts
You want to be nice. You don't want to make anyone look or feel stupid. So you modify your position. You discount your own ideas. You are careful not to advocate too forcefully. As a result, you...
View ArticlePassion Hides Obsession, Preparation Hides Insecurity
Read my latest blog post, When Virtue Hides Vice, on the Harvard Business Review online.
View ArticleGet it. Get it done. Get it out there. Get over it.
Four steps to make meaningful progress on anything: 1. Get it. Invest the time to understand the context for what you're working on. Where are you now? (That's point A.) Where would you like to be as a...
View ArticleWhen Balance Backfires
Anne and Sheila ran two different divisions for the same bank, and they were the two top candidates to be promoted to run the region. Anne believed that her success, and the long-term success of the...
View ArticleWhen Collaboration Backfires
At a senior, offsite retreat – the sort of high visibility moment that can make and break careers – his boss, the CFO, asked Bill for a “quick and dirty” analysis of the accounting implications of a...
View ArticleWhen Focus Backfires
Officer Kenny Conley was in hot pursuit. It was the middle of a cold Boston night in January, 1995 as Conley chased a suspect through a dark South Boston alley. Another police officer had been shot at...
View ArticleSales Backfires
On a recent episode of the A&E Television program Hoarders, we meet Kevin, whose Manhattan apartment has become so over-crowded with junk and relics that he now sleeps on a bench in front of his...
View ArticleAaron Sorkin, Sacred Cow Tipper
Newsroom, Aaron Sorkin’s latest excuse to show off dialogue as speechwriting, debuted last night on HBO. Nobody could simply dash out the ornate dialogue that falls so effortlessly out of his...
View ArticleCan You Be a Humble Contrarian?
In my last blog post, I celebrated Aaron Sorkin's willingness to flaunt convention. In particular, he ignores the advice to have realistic dialogue and instead uses his characters to speak the truth as...
View ArticleThey Wanted It To Be True So Badly That They Starved Monkeys for 23 Years
As the electric blanket of humidity that drapes the South in August begins to yield to autumn, I want to believe that the football team at the University of South Carolina, my alma mater, will win the...
View ArticleThe Harmonious Passion of Serena Williams
This week at the US Open, Andy Roddick and Serena Williams moved on. Roddick lost his match and moved on to the rest of his life, marking his retirement from the game with boisterous adulation from the...
View ArticleOne Weird Trick, Explained
I'm the author of Tipping Sacred Cows, a book that explains the dangerous pull of virtues like collaboration and fairness. The book launches on March 12, 2013, but you can order it today from Barnes...
View ArticleWant to lead your people? Learn from them.
The excellent leadership site Switch and Shift posted my latest article, which reveals the virtues of being coached by people who work for you.
View Article
