- Power corrupts, and power attracts the corruptible. Let’s subject our elites (and the sycophantic supporters who are disposed to collude in self-interest) to as many restrictions, supervisions, and checks and balances as possible.
- When stress is good. According to the Yerkes-Dodson Law, too much anxiety and stress impairs performance, but so does too little. The right level of stress can be a positive force for driving people forward.
- Beware of key-person dependency risk. There’s a risk posed by an organization or a team’s over-reliance on one or a few individuals. A well-managed company is never dependent upon the performance of one or a few individuals.
- What your messy desk says about you. A messy office or a cluttered desk can not only impede your space and cramp your style, but also affect how your peers and superiors perceive you.
- Ideas to use when delegating. A manager’s principal task is to get things done through other people. Delegate every task that can be performed just as well by someone who is paid less than you are.
- No boss likes a surprise—good or bad. If there is only one thing worse than delivering bad news, it’s not delivering bad news as soon as you know that some trouble is brewing. The surest way to delight your boss is by setting and adjusting the right expectations.
- Writing clearly and concisely. It is far more important to write well than most folks realize. Writing not only communicates ideas, it also generates them—in the minds of both the author and the reader.
- How to organize your inbox & reduce email stress. The recipe for staying on top of your email is to be ruthless about what you send and receive, and to focus on how you process your inbox. Don’t let an overflowing inbox be a big distraction (see Zeigarnik Effect.)
- Quit what you suck at. Don’t do—or continue to do—something just because it’s been a tradition, custom, or habit. Align your efforts with your mission, your values, and the results you want to achieve.
- That burning “what if” question. Don’t lament the life not lived when you can dive into the life you’re actually in and do so much good now.
And here are articles of yesteryear that continue to be popular:
- How smart companies get smarter
- Be a survivor, not a victim
- Rapoport’s rules to criticize someone constructively
- Ten rules of management success from Sam Walton
- Ten commandments of honest thought and discourse
- A sense of urgency
- How to focus on priorities
- Care less for what other people think
- Nothing deserves certainty
- Persuade others to see things your way