Skip to content

Leadership, Lawn-mowing & 3 Realities

By Andy Neillie | September 18, 2016

We moved a few years ago. We left behind a half-acre yard and steep hills. In its place: a yard that can be mowed in 30 minutes. Front and back. From putting my gloves on, getting the mower out of the shed, filling it up, firing it up,  emptying the grass-catcher a few times, wiping it down and putting it away, I’ve spent no more than half an hour.  Read on to see what that has to do with leadership.

…

Read More

Personal Leadership is hard

By Andy Neillie | September 17, 2016

Discipline is hard – harder than trustworthiness and skill and perhaps even selflessness. We are by nature flawed and inconstant creatures. We can’t even keep from snacking between meals. We are not built for discipline. We are built for novelty and excitement, not for careful attention to detail. Discipline is something we have to work at.

– Dr. Atul Gawande, The Checklist Manifesto: How to get things done right, p. 183

…

Read More

Leadership: Measure Twice, Cut Once

By Andy Neillie | August 29, 2016

Before our daughter was born, I spent several years making furniture as a hobby. I would typically build one project a year: an armoire, a headboard, a cabinet, etc. I learned a lot about woodworking doing those projects, and also at least one vital lesson about leadership.

The way I got into woodworking was through a local community college.  A friend of mine told me about a night class he took each fall that really only consisted of having access to a local high school’s very nice woodworking shop,

…

Read More