by Brooks Mendell | Apr 14, 2023 | Leading/Managing
After watching then New England Patriot quarterback Tom Brady at practice, former Indiana basketball coach Tom Crean, in a 2018 Sports Illustrated article, observed: “Everything Brady does, he does with purpose… bag drills, footwork drills, the dropping back,...
by Brooks Mendell | Mar 19, 2023 | Forestry, Leading/Managing, Thinking/Analysis
As leaders, parents, investors, and coaches, we often make decisions with imperfect and incomplete information. Therefore, we benefit by having an approach or philosophy for dealing with uncertainty. When screening and evaluating analysis, I start by confirming that...
by Brooks Mendell | Feb 15, 2023 | Communication Skills, Leading/Managing, Sports
My baseball coach at MIT, Fran O’Brien, reminded us that we will all make errors. The ball will go between our legs. A pop fly will get lost in the sun and fall safely to the ground. But he did not tolerate mental errors. If you missed a sign or failed to hustle,...
by Brooks Mendell | Nov 9, 2022 | Communication Skills, Leading/Managing, Sports
Recently, I attended the visitation in Reading, Massachusetts for Francis O’Brien, my college baseball coach at MIT.[1]In his eulogy, Kevin, the oldest of Coach O’Brien’s five children, said, “As Jackie Robinson said, ‘A life is not important except in the impact...
by Brooks Mendell | Oct 10, 2022 | Communication Skills, Forestry, Leading/Managing, Learning
When I missed the mark in my role as a log buyer and harvest manager in northeast Georgia in the 1990s, Danny Hamsley had a way of setting me straight. It would start with a phone call. “Brooks, I’m riding with you in the woods tomorrow.” Early...
by Brooks Mendell | May 18, 2022 | Communication Skills, Leading/Managing
Regular performance reviews, while often criticized, offer a repeatable and transparent process for building more effective organizations. Systems and teams, big and small, require feedback to adjust and improve. Sports have scores, cars have speedometers and engine...
