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Hello, I’m Andy Temte and welcome to the Saturday Morning Muse! Start to your weekend with me by investing 5-10 minutes of your time to explore topics that span leadership, business management, education, and other musings designed to support your journey of personal and professional continuous improvement. Other resources are available on my website at www.andrewtemte.com.
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By definition, when someone is listening, someone else is speaking - either verbally, through the written word, or both. To ensure that the conversation isn’t encumbered by unnecessary tension or spin, help your colleagues find their voice. How? It’s important to lead by example and the best way to do this is to shed your emotional suit of armor. L…
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I believe in bringing more of one's “whole or best self” to work. I believe that a diversity of voices and lived experiences leads to a richer tapestry of potential solutions to business challenges and ultimately, better outcomes. Conversely, I believe that heavy conformance to preconceived norms and blindly following overpowering voices stifles cr…
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As time passes, the business matures, growth slows, and entropy sets in. Leaders and team members pull their heads up and take a look around at the state of their business. The common refrain goes something like this: “Wow, how did our culture deviate so far from our original intention? We need to get back to growth mode, but we also need a culture…
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Welcome to the Saturday Morning Muse! In this episode, I'm talking about what integrity means and propose a simplified definition. Here's an excerpt: "I propose that when we teach and coach the human skill of integrity, we must also add the words empathy, compassion, and understanding. As a result, the definition of integrity can be simplified to: …
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This episode tells the story of 10-year-old Andy as a member of the La Crosse Boychoir, my mentor, Dan Johnson-Wilmot, and outlines three benefits of focusing on good posture for your personal and professional journey of continuous improvement. "Nothing says “you’ve got this,” more than good posture. Many people will tell you that “clothes make the…
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My goal with this muse is to gently, but purposefully change the arc of the conversation in corporate circles around the concept of empathy and empathetic leadership. In my opinion, empathy is great, but it lacks two essential ingredients—the willingness/ability to help, and the ability to detach. Compassion represents a logical extension of empath…
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Financial literacy is a woefully underdeveloped skill in both our homes and businesses. I frequently hear business leaders lament about the lack of financial literacy within their teams. In my first book, Balancing Act, I outline the four most important future-facing skills and financial literacy (and it’s more sophisticated cousin, financial acume…
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Today, I'm musing about turning your company's budgeting process from wasteful drudgery to a value-adding exercise that helps develop individuals, teams, and builds your corporate culture. Optimally, your company’s budget should be an elegant financial expression of a tight, cohesive storyline that explains how tactics and execution in the upcoming…
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So how do we balance control and empowerment? How do we create a high trust, high accountability workplace? We do so by installing a clear set of guardrails and guidelines within which the organization can function. Said differently, we install a “management operating system.”By Andrew Temte
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Excerpt: If I’m living my personal purpose in both life and work and striving toward my long-term personal vision, then the likelihood that I feel unworthy of my successes is reduced because my success is more genuine to me and, no pun intended, purposeful. So if natural feelings of unworthiness and self-doubt creep in, I can remind myself that my …
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Episode Excerpt: "What I do know is that reducing the negative feelings that accompany my imposter syndrome has distinct benefits. My anxiety is much more manageable, I’m happier and feel more fulfilled, and I believe I’m a better parent, partner, and friend. So how did I reduce my exposure to imposter syndrome? I defined and connected to my person…
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Giving versus taking. This is one of, if not the, most important balancing acts we play throughout our lives. We come into this world naked and completely dependent on our parents and caregivers. Throughout our youth, we are, by definition, net takers. As we age, we build and refine a portfolio knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes (a.k.a., c…
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In my previous writings, I talk a lot about the benefits of engaging in constructive self-reflection. In my Personal Planning Guidebook, which is a free download on my website, the ability to self-reflect is an integral part of the personal planning process. But what is self-reflection and how can you get the most from it? We’re going to discuss th…
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Last week, we outlined the pre-conditions to effective self-reflection and introduced the concepts of self-awareness, cognitive (unconscious) bias, and taming the negative voices that swirl within our heads—what Jane Pike calls our “itty bitty shitty committee.” Now lets get into the logistical specifics of an effective self-reflection session. htt…
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I love puzzles that test my mind. My go-to right now is Sudoku at the “Beware: Very Challenging” level. I find the task of searching for patterns within number grids both soothing and energizing. It may sound odd, but I like working through the frustration of a difficult puzzle, in part because I’ve learned enough about brain science to know that I…
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Today, we’re talking about one of the most important questions we must ask ourselves. That question is: Am I Adding Value? Am I adding value at work? Am I adding value to my friend group? Family unit? The board I’m a member of? https://www.andrewtemte.com/By saturdaymorningmuse
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I get asked periodically how companies will maintain and grow healthy corporate cultures in an environment of hybrid and/or fully remote work. The argument goes something like this: If my people aren’t together everyday, how can culture thrive? Sometimes, this question is a mask for unspoken undertones like damnit, I’m paying for this physical offi…
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AI, AI, AI. Everyone’s talking about the challenges and opportunities that individuals, corporations, institutions, and governments face as artificial intelligence tools gain prominence in our daily lives. I’m amused by the shock and dismay that surrounds the debate in many circles—as if the rise of the efficacy of tools like ChatGPT 4, Bard, Bing,…
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“There are no failures in life, only learning opportunities.” “It’s only a failure if you don’t learn from it.” Phrases like this are designed to promote a lifelong learning mindset, but it can be incredibly difficult to separate the feelings of failure after something goes wrong from the need to learn from a failure, grow, and move on. I know from…
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The popular press is filled with “how to” guides on personal and professional fulfillment as well as tons of click bait on fad diets, how to get in shape, and develop washboard abs. Yes, it can be fun to vicariously live through others and dream of personal transformation, but those same dreams can be soul-crushing when we slide back into old habit…
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On The Balancing Act Podcast, I routinely ask my guests for the advice they would give our listeners on how to optimize the balancing act between technical skill and human (a.k.a. soft) skill in the world of work. The answers to this question vary widely, but most answers share a common thread of building the skills of communication, active listeni…
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Embrace the power of music. There’s an old saying that my father often repeats: “Keep a smile on your face and a song in your heart.” In this forum, I talk a lot about developing an agile, growth mindset and nurturing a strong portfolio of emotional intelligence tools. Embracing this old saying is one of many methods I’ve used through the years to …
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Resilience is defined as “the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties” (Oxford Dictionaries). The American Psychological Association defines resilience as “the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences.” In most definitions of resiliency, adversity, shock, and/or change occurs th…
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Earlier this summer, I was in unavoidable earshot of a conversation between two acquaintances regarding team performance—specifically about an operational failure that had occurred in their business. They were lamenting about one of their co-workers, and the implication was that the co-worker was to blame. As a reminder, if I’m pointing a finger at…
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There are many truisms in business, and one that doesn’t get nearly enough attention is that as a leader rises through the ranks of an organization, the amount they are discussed, analyzed, and talked about increases in a non-linear fashion. I would periodically get asked if this bothered me during my career, and I would typically respond with a fl…
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Far too often, when confronted with a challenge, we talk. We talk to deflect. We talk because we don’t know what else to do. We talk to release nervous energy. To make matters worse, when we start talking, we usually start relaying a story of a similar challenge that’s happened to us. The individual who’s going through the challenge doesn’t want to…
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Are you feeling disengaged or ‘stuck’ at work? Does it feel like you’re trudging through mud and that the light in your eyes has dimmed? From my own personal experience, it can be very difficult to pinpoint the root cause of these feelings and it’s even harder to break through to an improved state of well-being and engagement. Today, I’d like to sh…
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One of the biggest errors a leader can make is to hire team members who are direct reflections of themselves. Yes, it can be temporarily convenient to surround yourself with people who always agree with you, or who share your own perspectives, but in the long-term, this type of hiring behavior will hinder growth, innovation, and forward momentum. A…
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Your people need to hear from you. Radio silence is a terrible management practice and is a big driver of employee dissatisfaction. In the case of our delayed flight, all the pilot needed to do was provide a 30 second update to passengers regarding why we pulled off an active runway prior to takeoff. That simple action would have prevented unnecess…
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What do your people want (other than more money)? They want clarity, autonomy, empowerment, respect, and organizational accountability. They want to make a difference and do good, meaningful work. They want to know that leadership cares and that everyone in the company is rowing in the same direction with the same commitment and vigor that they app…
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There will be times when you’re the smartest person in the room and others when you need a helping hand. Your colleagues will quickly become exhausted by a know-it-all attitude and will begin to tune you out. Your value to the team and its leader will fall, and tough decisions will follow. https://www.andrewtemte.com/…
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We’ve all been there. The conference room is packed with attendees for the big presentation. The projector comes to life and the speakers begin walking everyone through the next big corporate innovation, the quarterly financials, or an update on a cross-functional project. The room is professional and focused, with the exception of Suzie and Quenti…
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What’s the formula for career success? There are endless consultants and prognosticators who claim to have the golden ticket to success. I’ve thought about this many times throughout my career, and with nearly 40 years of experience under my belt, I can boil the formula down to two interrelated concepts: relationships and results. If, at first glan…
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The (not so) Secret Formula for Success Part II
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Once you’ve come to terms with and start loving the unique human that is you, then achieving your definition of success boils down to relationships and results. For a deep(erish) dive into the relationships side of the equation, here’s the link to last week’s episode for you to review. [1960s elevator music plays] Now that you’re back, let’s tackle…
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We fill our lives with busy and hurry—seldom, if ever, stopping to check in with ourselves and ensure we’re living out the promise of our purpose. One of my goals with the Saturday Morning Muse is to help drive a shift in perspective—from the negative to the positive—from “I have to,” to “I get to.” If you want to be an effective, compassionate lea…
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