Great Leaders Are Thoughtful and Deliberate, Not Impulsive and Reactive | The perfectionism trap | We still don't know why humans started drinking cow's milk | Why Great Employees Leave "Great Cultures"

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� � � � � � Great Leaders Are Thoughtful and Deliberate, Not Impulsive and Reactive - Harvard Business Review    All leaders have two selves. There’s the self we prefer to present to the world – the one that is run by our pre-frontal cortex and is measured, rational, and capable of making deliberate choices. And then there’s the self, run by the amygdala, that is reactive and impulsive and often causes us to fail to meet our commitments or overreact in frustration. The antidote to reacting from the second self is to develop the capacity to observe your two selves in real time. You can start by noticing and labeling your negative emotions such as impatience, frustration, and anger – to get distance from them. Also, watch out for times when you feel you’re digging in your heels. The absolute conviction that you’re right and the compulsion to take action are both strong indicators that you‘re operating from that second self. Finally, it’s important to ask yourself two key questions in challenging moments: “What else could be true here?” and “What is my responsibility in this?” Questioning your conclusions offsets confirmation bias and looking for your responsibility helps you focus on what you can change – your behavior. You set aside the first hour of your day to work on a strategy document that you’ve been putting off for a week. You haven’t been disciplined about getting to it, but you’ve had one crisis after another to deal with in the past week. Now, finally, you’ve carved out 90 early morning minutes to work on it. First, however, you take a quick peek at the email that has piled up in your inbox overnight. Before you know it, you’ve used up the whole 90 minutes responding to emails, even though none of them were truly urgent. Continued here � � � � � � Don't like ads? Go ad-free with TradeBriefs Premium The perfectionism trap - The Economist    As a young university lecturer two decades ago, I taught a course on 19th-century American literature. Though I loved the period, my students were less enamoured. Most would give up on “Moby-Dick” or Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Essays” after only a few pages, then sit in seminars coiled in silence, hoping that I wouldn’t call on them. Roy was different. He was prodigiously well-read and discussed our texts with passionate intensity, which his classmates observed with a mixture of perplexity and awe. At the end of term, most students handed in efficient and entirely unremarkable essays. But Roy came to my office two days before the deadline begging for an extension. I explained to him that I couldn’t grant him extra time without a doctor’s note and that he’d lose marks for giving in the work late. I urged him to go home and just write his essay. He had already demonstrated that he had numerous interesting things to say. Continued here � � � � � � We still don't know why humans started drinking cow's milk - National Geographic    Drinking another animal’s milk is unusual in nature—most people are lactose intolerant, in fact. So why did humans start doing it some 9,000 years ago? Ice cream. Butter. Yogurt. Cheese. A tall, cold glass of milk. Dairy is an essential part of the modern American diet. But, as the rise of coconut ice cream, cashew butter, and oat yogurt suggests, while some people may choose not to drink cow’s milk, many more simply can’t digest it well. In the ancient past, our ancestors, like all mammals, could not digest milk after infancy—and even today, an estimated 68 percent of the global human population is lactose intolerant. The real mystery is why some people do drink milk. Continued here � � � � � � Why Great Employees Leave "Great Cultures" - Harvard Business Review    Culture is often referred to as “the way things are done around here.” But to be useful, we need to get more specific than that. The best companies recognize that there are three elements to a culture: behaviors, systems, and practices, all guided by an overarching set of values. A great culture is what you get when all three of these are aligned, and line up with the organization’s espoused values. When gaps start to appear, that’s when you start to see problems — and see great employees leave. If your best employees are leaving, take a hard look at your company. Find those gaps, and fix them. That way, you won’t have to hear talented people say, “I know it’s a great culture, but I am leaving.” “We have a great culture.” We have all heard it. We have all said it. But what does that mean? The promise of being part of a hip, equity-incentivized, fast growing team? Closer, but still no. Continued here

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