The Martian by Andy Weir Re-reading The Martian by Andy Weir! Great book about astronaut Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon in the movie) who is stranded alone on Mars with no way to signal Earth (talk about physical distancing…). In the book, Mark Watney talks about the MAV (Mars Ascent Vehicle – the shuttle used to get astronauts off Mars) as the single most important component of the mission: “It’s one of the few systems that can’t be replaced or worked around.” … [Read more...] about The Martian – What is your MAV?
Spotlight Time
In my last post, (Time Machine Conversations) I talked about slowing down and focusing on one conversation at a time. Anyone who wants to improve (or save) personal or professional relationships has to slow down and focus on the fundamentals. If the reminder to slow down belongs on a t-shirt, I would like to offer another reminder - spotlight time. A question I often ask when running leadership development programs is “How many people do you know that are gold medal listeners?" Usually about one-third of the people in the audience raise their … [Read more...] about Spotlight Time
Time Machine Conversations
In the movie Superman (1978 - starring Christopher Reeve) Superman travels back in time to save Lois Lane from an earthquake. Wouldn't it be great if we could travel back in time - and save our conversations? I run leadership development programs and workshops for executives and senior managers. We talk about soft skills - the stuff they didn’t teach us in school. I ask the following questions to participants at the beginning of programs: If time travel was possible, and you could go back to a conversation you had in your past - and have another shot at it…how … [Read more...] about Time Machine Conversations