Curated content for systems leaders. Principal + CEO https://xitter.cf/t.co/Lzjf7UjbcM + Founder #termexecutive. Growing resilient nonprofits.
Washington, DC
Joined May 2012
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Anna Prow retweeted
Quote of the Day: "Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict." - William Ellery Channing
Anna Prow retweeted
I’m in love with this sentence:
“The degree to which a person can grow is directly proportional to the amount of truth they can accept about themselves without running away.”
Anna Prow retweeted
The 8 Laws of Learning, according to legendary coach John Wooden:
1. Explanation
2. Demonstration
3. Imitation
4. Repetition
5. Repetition
6. Repetition
7. Repetition
8. Repetition
Anna Prow retweeted
All employees come in 5 levels, choose wisely:
Level 1 - tells you there's a problem
Level 2 - tells you there's a problem and what caused it
Level 3 - tells you there's a problem, what caused it, and options to fix it
Level 4 - tells you there's a problem, what caused it, options to fix it, and which one they'd pick
Level 5 - tells you there was a problem, what caused it, how they fixed it, and future proof’d it
Anna Prow retweeted
A peak productivity advice from James Clear:
“You are not your grand plans. You are your daily patterns.”
Anna Prow retweeted
There are a couple of universal patterns that show up across fields that you should apply to pretty much anything:
- Use a written process because memory isn't reliable (see aviation checklists, surgery, mise en place, SOPs...)
- Stop early when something is wrong (Andon cord, feature flags, turnaround time, error budgets...)
- Leave a buffer (Margin of safety, safety stock, taper, defense in depth...)
- Fix the system rather than blame people (Blameless post-mortems, poka-yoke, Swiss cheese model...)
- Get feedback fast (OODA, kaizen, canary releases, after-action reviews...)
- Hand over with a fixed format (SBAR, BLUF, commander's intent...)
- Ramp up gradually (10% rule, canary releases, position sizing....)
Anna Prow retweeted
How many leaders would you guess actually create #PsychologicalSafety for their teams?
After a decade of books, articles & podcasts on the subject, you'd guess most of us have this figured out by now.
McKinsey puts the real number at about 1 in 4.
We're not nearly as good at this as we think we are.
#Leadership #LeadFromTheHeart #HR #SHRM #WellBeing
Anna Prow retweeted
The loser has more in common with the winner than with the person sitting on the sidelines.
The winner and the loser each had the courage to try. Both risked embarrassment. Both were willing to face uncertainty. Both were stubborn enough to continue.
Success is endurance in disguise. It belongs to the person who can absorb the losses without absorbing the identity of "loser." It's the courage to start — and to stick with it — that is the real separator. Results tend to find the person who stays in the game.
The sidelines are safe, but sterile. Nothing grows there.
Anna Prow retweeted
Something I noticed about resilient people: They don't have fewer problems. They have faster reset times. Bad news hits at 9am. By 10am, they're back to their priorities. They feel it, process it, and move. The speed of the reset matters more than the size of the setback. – at Winthrop, MA
Anna Prow retweeted
The nervous system learns what you repeatedly survive. If you endure rejection without collapsing, boredom without escaping, and stress without reaching for the old relief mechanism, those states gradually lose authority. Resilience is built by giving your brain repeated proof that discomfort is survivable without self-destruction.
Anna Prow retweeted
The fastest way to detect manipulation is to watch for people who push urgency without giving you time to think, so build a rule where you never agree to important decisions in the same moment they are presented, because time pressure is often used to bypass your judgment.
Anna Prow retweeted
The reason that math is hard for most is the same reason that math is easy for some.
Anna Prow retweeted
Neuroplasticity explains why discipline often feels unrewarding before it feels natural. The brain is being asked to abandon an efficient, familiar pattern for a less practiced one. The discomfort is not proof that the new behavior is wrong. It is often the price of making it familiar.
Anna Prow retweeted
Leadership is built on your courage to say what others won't. Mediocre managers rationalize avoiding hard conversations as "being nice." Leaders lean into discomfort. They're direct. Clear. Logical. The difference isn't knowing what to say. It's being willing to say it.
Anna Prow retweeted
Leaders with toxic interpersonal behaviors can still make excellent first impressions. That’s why organizations often hire technically impressive leaders who ultimately damage team performance, culture, and retention.
A few steps can help hiring managers better evaluate candidates during the recruiting process:
1. Identify the interpersonal requirements of the role.
2. Draft interview questions.
3. Define your ideal responses.
To learn more about these three steps—and discover the remaining three—read the full article at HBR: s.hbr.org/4wJ2GEE
