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Entries Tagged as 'Leadership'

Mistakes: Allowable and Not

April 2nd, 2026 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips We all make mistakes. Some are allowable and some not. There is the mistake budget. We all make mistakes. The sooner we acknowledge and live that the better we will be (IMHO). Some mistakes, like typographical errors in blog posts, are embarrassing but that’s about the cost. Other mistakes, those that cost […]

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Tags: Accountability · Agreement · Government · Leadership · Learning · Management · Mistakes · Money

Panic and Focus

February 16th, 2026 · No Comments

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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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. […]

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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 […]

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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, […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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Tags: Communication · Ideas · Leadership · Learning · Questions · Teaching · Thinking