Jason Cortel 
Reflecting on the children’s game; the intent of the “Leader” was to make it as challenging as possible to be a follower. Remember (as the leader) weaving in and out; over and under as many obstacles as possible? The simplest … Read more
Fierce leadership is bringing great energy or enthusiasm to pursuing a cause or objective. Business is full of fluff and BS, which means fierce leaders need to ask crucial questions others are afraid to ask. They have to say what … Read more
Who grew up hearing quitters never win and winners never quit? If you grew up hearing that, how frequently did you really win and what was the average time to realize that win? Persistence and tenacity are strong qualities to … Read more
Leadership is creating the rules, breaking the rules and enforcing the rules. Leadership isnnovative. Take risks but fail early and often. You shouldn’t have all the answers. Your style can be black, white or adaptive. One person’s grey could be … Read more
When you look around the office you will often see those in senior management roles being first in and last out. You rarely will get an OOO email from them. These are the people who lead critical departments and teams … Read more
The Five Things That Set the Performance Pace to “Super-Achiever” A Contributor does just that…contributes. The minimum contribution expectation is what must be defined. Once defined, and if the minimums are achieved then there are no justifiable grounds for termination. Why? Because, Barely … Read more
No one wakes up in the morning to be a quitter. But sometimes you have quit without even knowing that you have done so. This isn’t another article about moving on, stagnating or moving up. It is an article about … Read more
No news is good news. That is what people who despise conflict say. That saying is not welcomed on a team that is striving to achieve greatness. Saying no news is good news is just like saying Bloody Mary 3 … Read more
Regina was nervously waiting for her weekly status meeting with her boss. She had reviewed the numbers of her team all weekend. She desperately searched for a reporting error that would explain the low performance of a majority of her … Read more
Your stomach starts to turn like you are on a roller coaster climbing up that first incline. You hear the bickering over your cubical wall. You try to convince yourself that once they get it out everything will be better. … Read more
Recently I have been struggling with a misconception in my office. Why would you fire someone who contributes and doesn’t participate in the extras? At the beginning of the year I challenged my team to produce the absolute best employee … Read more
Trust is one of the pillars of successful business and the cornerstone of successful leadership. A leader who doesn’t have genuine trust in their team will compensate by using micromanagement. When a team is micromanaged they stop thinking for themselves. … Read more