An Oportunity to Offer Sage Advice

Kyle Blades asks for advice on LinkedIn: The Kiss of Death: Young and Different. Please chime in.

My advice:

Read MICROCOSMOGRAPHIA ACADEMICA by Conford. You fall into the classification of "young man in a hurry." My solution to your problem would be to start with small engagements: prove you can solve small problems, and deliver beyond expectations. While working on the starting task, look for opportunities to pitch a grander change. But, also do your homework in the mean time. Don't bring an idea, bring a 5-paragraph OPORD and a team. Have a thorough dissection of the situation and assets. Create a vision considering the commander's intent two levels up. Create alliances with willing participants. Etc...

Sorry for the military jargon. OPORD = Operations Order which coresponds to a business plan. Kyle was a marine.

Are We Being Drawn Farther Apart?

My reply to a blog post on Linked 2 Leadership: Human Connection: The Achilles Heel of Technology

I find the opposite to be true.

Reply #1: You only have so much time. Would you rather use that time managing or leading? A key element of my consulting practice is to encourage the use of technology to reduce the amount of time spent managing in order to increase the amount of time available for leadership. Conversations are key to leadership. Managing conversation threads and contact lists takes time. I would rather spend that time conversing. I encourage the use of these tools to facilitate your ability to lead.

Reply #2: There have long been forms of communications used to maintain emotional closeness between people who are physically separate. Rather then look at this as though we are being drawn farther apart, look at this as a means to draw us together.