by Brooks Mendell | Nov 26, 2020 | Leading/Managing
This post introduces an essay with advice on starting a business. It is the first in a three-part series. Forisk is not my first business. In elementary school, after reading all of the Encyclopedia Brown mystery books from the local library, I started a...
by Brooks Mendell | Sep 28, 2020 | Leading/Managing
This post introduces a recent essay on four imperatives for living and leading by example. When we smile, others smile back. When someone enters an elevator, we move to make room. When audience members stand to applaud at an event, we often join them (even if...
by Brooks Mendell | Jul 31, 2020 | Communication Skills, Leading/Managing
This post introduces a recent essay on mobilizing teams and making decisions during difficult times. When faced with ambiguity and uncertainty, we seek solid ground for making decisions. For novel and contentious issues, following our “gut” or simple frameworks may...
by Brooks Mendell | Jun 14, 2020 | Communication Skills, Leading/Managing, Thinking/Analysis
In my roles as a business advisor and as a team leader, I have the opportunity to continually discuss and test ideas on managing and making decisions, especially in turbulent times. The intensity and urgency of these conversations increased with the arrival in 2020 of...
by Brooks Mendell | May 25, 2020 | Communication Skills, Leading/Managing
In college at MIT, I played baseball for Coach Fran O’Brien. MIT hired Coach O’Brien in 1969. In the twenty seasons prior to Coach O’Brien’s arrival, MIT Baseball had one winning season. He inherited a Division-III, no scholarship, no recruiting team that expected to...
by Brooks Mendell | Mar 8, 2018 | Communication Skills, Leading/Managing, Sports
Who is the most important person on your team? As much as we’re “all created equal,” we join and work with teams comprised of higher performers and lower performers. Some salespeople exceed quota; others struggle to keep up. In sports, most players, at any given...
