by Dwayne Phillips Does panic create focus? Perhaps. Perhaps some of us would just rather avoid panic. I saw something silly this morning on some society media site. It read: I don’t procrastinate. I simply wait until sheer panic improves my focus, It’s a highly refined strategy that I have been perfecting for years. I […]
Entries Tagged as 'Leadership'
Panic and Focus
February 16th, 2026 · No Comments
Tags: Adapting · Agility · Chaos · Commitment · Expectations · Leadership · Planning · Work
The Pit of Endless Details
January 22nd, 2026 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Wait. Stop. Someone grab that person. That person is about to fall into the pit of endless details. Oh no. It’s too late! I know it’s about to happen. I should be able to do something to stop it. Oh no. It happened too fast. There is nothing I can do. The […]
Tags: Communication · Concepts · Context · Conversation · Leadership · Learning
With Great Certainty
December 22nd, 2025 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips I often hear people speak with great certainty. Further consideration, however, reveals almost no certainty. People like to speak with great certainty. I write those words because I often hear people speak with great certainty. If people don’t like to do that, why do they do it almost all the time? Great […]
Tags: Clarity · Communication · Honesty · Leadership · Problems · Talk
Eating Asparagus
December 4th, 2025 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Influencing behavior via modeling instead of coating with chocolate syrup. I recently read an article written by a mother describing how she had her children eat vegetables. The answer applies to all behaviors that are distasteful to some persons. There is an old joke about a farmer who fed his dogs spinach. […]
Tags: Communication · Consulting · Expectations · Leadership · Learning · Management
What Do You Want?
December 1st, 2025 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips A simple question can start a meaningful conversation that prevents bad things from happening. As I write this post, our elected representatives ended a partial shutdown of our Federal government a couple of days ago. Such shutdown set some type of record and brought lots of grief to thousands of people. I […]
Tags: Conversation · Leadership · Learning · Management · Questions · Work
But That’s Your Job
September 15th, 2025 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Managing work and leading people isn’t easy. It is, however, the job of managers. I have recently seen several articles about the struggle to bring people back into the office two, three, or even five days a week. And there are requirements to prove that a person actually came to the office, […]
Tags: Jobs · Leadership · Management · People · Work
Observe and Notice
July 31st, 2025 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Two fundamental tasks most of us should attempt everyday. Perhaps you manage work in your profession. Much of what I write is pointed towards us managers of work. I also point towards us leaders of people. Manage and lead. Fundamentals. Two basic tasks of managers and leaders are observing and noticing. Two […]
Tags: Leadership · Learning · Listening · Management · Notice · Observation
Doing It Wrong or Recounting It Wrong
July 7th, 2025 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips I can do something wrong. I can do something right, but be mistaken in how I tell the story of the doing. There is a difference. Is one mistake better? I can do something wrong. For example, not tighten the lug nuts properly when I change a tire on a car. I […]
Tags: Communication · Ethics · Government · History · Leadership · Learning · Thinking
The Suggestion in the Form of a Question
June 9th, 2025 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Like the TV game show Jeopardy, lets make suggestions in the form of a question. The TV show Jeopardy always had the answer in the form of a question. This always seemed silly to me, but the show was and still is successful, so what do I know about TV game show […]
Tags: Communication · Ideas · Leadership · Learning · Questions · Teaching · Thinking
What Do You Want? How Can You Reach That?
May 8th, 2025 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Stop. Breathe. Think. Now act in a way that leads to what is desired. Stop. Breathe. Think. Act. In that order. I think that is the definition of a wise person acting wisely. “Knee jerk reactions” are not in the definition. A long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away) a […]
Tags: Choose · Leadership · Management · Thinking · Time · Trust · Urgent