Articles

Living The Example In Leadership And Service, with Peter Schravemade (part 2), Ep #69

Contracted Leadership
Any leader in any organization has to be mindful of the example they set. What you model will be a good example or a bad example for distinct groups of people: those you lead, those you serve, those with whom you are in a close relationship, and those who observe your life from a distance. This undeniable reality is an aspect of leadership that seems to fall off the radar for many senior leaders. Position and success somehow obscure the need for humble modeling and are sometimes replaced by a sense of entitlement or superiority. Peter Schravemade is a leader who has not lost touch with the impact his example invariably has on others. Though he’s ultra-busy in his role...
Continue Reading

How An Upstart Australian Real Estate Tech Company is Storming the U.S.—Part 1 with Peter Schravemade, Ep #68

How An Upstart Australian Real Estate Tech Company is Storming the U.S.—Part 1 with Peter Schravemade
Real Estate is an industry that everyone understands on a basic level, but very few know about the highly specialized niche businesses that serve the industry. These organizations keep the real estate machine humming along smoothly for the benefit of both buyers and sellers. Some of them enhance the process to provide greater value for everyone involved. Peter Schravemade serves as Strategic Relationships Manager at BoxBrownie.com, one of those highly specialized real estate tech companies I referred to. BoxBrownie.com takes average-looking photos of properties and makes them pop — resulting in faster sales and higher sales prices (Peter cites that claim during our conversation). Peter is the type of person you can talk with all day, and we almost did....
Continue Reading

5 Reasons You May Be Promoting The Wrong People And How To Avoid Them, Ep #67

5 Reasons You May Be Promoting The Wrong People And How To Avoid Them-1
In his book, “The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong,” Dr. Laurence J. Peter quipped that “People in a hierarchy rise to their level of incompetence.” By this, he meant that employees are typically promoted based on their success in previous roles under the assumption that they will do well with even greater amounts of responsibility and leadership. Laurence says this formula of “success leads to promotion” often continues until that person reaches a level at which they are no longer competent for the role they've been given, as skills in one job do not necessarily translate to another. Though Dr. Peter’s book was released in 1969, we sadly see this dynamic happening still today, and it brings up...
Continue Reading

The Winding Road To Greater Purpose, with Max Duckworth, Ep #66

The Winding Road To Greater Purpose, with Max Duckworth, Ep #66
We’ve all heard it said that the shortest path between two points is a straight line. That’s undoubtedly true, but what we often fail to realize is that the BEST path is not always the most direct or straight path. Sometimes it’s the bends and turns in the path that brings the rich experience and learning that we need the most for carrying out our life’s work. My guest, Max Duckworth has taken his own winding path on his way to filling the important role he does now. It’s one that’s taken him from particle physics to environmental policy, to energy commodity trading, to impact investing. Max is now an impact investor and co-founder of Masa Partners, which in his...
Continue Reading

Work Engagements Can’t Be Mutually Meaningful Without This, Ep #65

Work-Engagements-Cant-Be-Mutually-Meaningful-Without-This-Ep-5-1
“The obscure we see eventually, the completely obvious, it seems takes longer.” ~ Edward R. Murrow.   Edward R. Murrow was a broadcast journalist and war correspondent who gained prominence during World War II. His statement points out something we all know, the obvious things don’t always get our attention right away. It happens to all of us. It even happens at work. We're busy, we're preoccupied, and mistakes are made. Sometimes we are lucky to have someone witness our fumbled actions or statements and we can get a good laugh from it. Other times it bites us squarely on the ass. One of the things which may seem obvious to you once you hear it is how to create meaningful...
Continue Reading