I burned the broccolini last night.

As world crises go, this was pretty minor. Still, it served as a useful metaphor for producing under pressure. (Hey, it was useless as a side dish, so I had to do something with it!) Follow me along on this, step-by-step, and you’ll see what I mean.

1. There’s always more pressure when we’re doing something unfamiliar (all other things being equal). A cardiac surgeon feels more pressure during her first open-heart surgery ...

My favorite quotation (and yes, the word is “quotation;” “quote” is a verb, thank you) from Harry S Truman (and no, there’s no period after the “S,” because it’s not an abbreviation; “S” was his entire middle name — my goodness, I’m being irritatingly picky today!) is this one:

“It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.”

But my second favorite quotation from Harry S Truman is this one:

“Not all readers are leaders…but all leaders are ...

Like you, I often hear people say, “Oh, I’m under so much pressure!”

When I hear this, I generally ask them what’s going on. And often the answer is something like, “Oh, nothing specific. Politics, paying the bills, this cold I can’t seem to shake. You know, just general stuff.”

What they’re actually feeling is stress, not pressure. Let’s look at the difference.

Stress is like the gray, overcast sky; it’s a state of being. Pressure is like the sudden, violent thunderstorm; it’s ...

So there was that time when I told 500 geniuses to stop being so mentally lazy.

I was the opening keynoter for the annual convention of Mensa, the high IQ society. [Full disclosure: I’m also a member. I’m pretty sure I got in under some sort of Affirmative Action program.]

The reaction was, shall we say, mixed.

But I stand by my statement.

Now let’s be clear: I wasn’t accusing these people of not having brainpower. I was accusing them of not ...

Leadership is, at times, an honor, a burden, a privilege, a headache, a riddle, a mirror, a crisis, and a joy. Sometimes it’s two or more of these at the same time.

But leadership is first, foremost, and always, a responsibility.

A responsibility to whom? Ask any good leader, and they’ll tell you that they have, broadly speaking, three constituencies:

1. Their team

When a leader is responsible to the team, that leader:

• communicates a clear and compelling direction for the team;
• shares the credit with ...

Do you have a Power Phrase?

[You: “I ate a Power Bar for breakfast. Is that the same thing?” Me: “No.”]

A Power Phrase is a concise phrase — one to five words — that encapsulates your highest self, the outcome you want to achieve, and/or who you want to be when you’re at your best in moments of pressure.

Think of it as a focal point, or a mantra if you like. Here’s why you should have one (or more than one; ...