john bailie, PHD
Faith. Life. leadership.

The book is finally here: Leading Conflict: How To Fight at Work And that's my short answer to, "Where you been, bro?". I've also been making some changes to the blog. I'll still cover lots of hard-hitting advice on workplace conflict, but I'll also be moving outside the squared circle to cover more of the rest of life. I hope you like it and stick around as things develop. Thanks to everyone for sticking with me in the deep rounds. Hope you like the book. If you love it - te

“In quiet and untroubled times, it seems to every administrator that it is only by his efforts that the whole population under his rule is kept going, and in this consciousness of being indispensable every administrator finds the chief reward of his labor and efforts. While the sea of history remains calm the ruler-administrator in his frail bark, holding on with a boat hook to the ship of the people and himself moving, naturally imagines that his efforts move the ship he is

Change happens slowly, and then… all at once. Some changes are rather small in the large scheme of things. Some changes we choose. We adapt an existing product or launch a new one. We complete a merger or offload a division in a strategic sale. We consolidate our infrastructure or devolve it. Then there’s change we don’t control, but we can directly influence. We respond the ups and downs of the market, make adaptations, and once again find stasis. But sometimes, there’s an a

Many years ago, a colleague and I found ourselves in a conversation with a competitor in the professional leadership training market. The goal of the meeting was to explore how we might collaborate in the future. We had very similar training programs (content-wise) and increasingly found ourselves competing in a specific region of the country. Early in the conversation it was clear that there wasn’t going to be much collaboration going forward. Our competitor went on-and-on a

A longtime colleague in leadership training and consulting recently said to me during a discussion, “You know, I’m increasingly uncomfortable with the whole idea of ‘accountability’”. His reasoning was this. In his opinion, our current society is fundamentally unjust in a multitude of ways. This, he felt, also plays out in the culture of organizations. Therefore, his conclusion was that individual accountability within organizations serves to reinforce injustice. The implicat

Who on our team do we really care about? Who are the people whose performance is critical to our organization meeting its goals? It doesn’t matter if we are friends outside of work, or if they ever will attend a BBQ at our house. These people are essential to our success as leaders and our business accomplishing what we’ve set out to do. This is a person we would absolutely and enthusiastically rehire in a reorganization or try to recruit to come work with us at a new company

When it comes to giving feedback: Speed + Accuracy = Power. I was recently giving my oldest son some beginner boxing lessons. Like I was at his age, he’s an early bloomer – taller, stronger, and all around bigger than most of his peers. So, just like I did at his age, he was leaning on his size and strength. He was pounding on the heavy bag with lots of admirable effort and grit, but it was all strength, bodyweight, and muscle. Using your fists like sledgehammers certainly de

I was in my early thirties. I was going through a very painful and complicated breakup. Work was going great, but that success came with an increase in expectations, responsibility, and pressure. Proverbially speaking, it was the best of times and the worst of times. So, I started running. Running helped to keep my health on track and “burn-off” my excess energy and stress. I had played football and rugby and spent some time in the military, but I never liked running for runn

I met someone recently who works for a large, complex, and financially successful organization. He is a senior leader and an accomplished expert in the field of IT systems and statistical analysis. Like many organizations, they have transitioned to a largely virtual workforce over the past two-years. In the midst of this change, his role is to monitor day-to-day behavior of staff, time-on-task, and productivity – by unit, division, and at the individual level. To aid him in t

“A good egg is an egg that hatches.” – Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, Life is Worth Living . Many years ago, a few days after the successful defense of my doctoral thesis, one of my professional mentors was congratulating me on the many years of hard work that brought me to that point. It went something like this: “Congratulations, you have achieved something truly rare and important. However, you need to know that earning a Ph.D. is kind of like receiving your plumber

I take full responsibility for my behavior. This is what I did and my part in what happened. How has what I’ve done affected you? I am willing to make things right. Here’s what I intend to do. Is there anything else you need from me? Or I recognize that something has happened and that I may have contributed to it. This might have affected you or others. If it did, please let me know and what you need. Or As we all know, something has happened. It’s a complicated issue with ma

An aging facility in need of environmental remediation, an overfunded unit producing a product past its prime, or a culture that prizes growth over legal compliance are all examples of potential liabilities an organization might be carrying at any given time. Surely, each of them involves or has involved, people. At some point a decision was made to put the new offices in that cool defunct warehouse in the old industrial district now teeming with artists and start-ups. And so

Several years ago, a family member asked me how to make my (delicious, I might add) pulled pork chili. I responded by giving her a few of...

The Golden 5% is that last bit of maximum contribution that is inside all of us. It’s the full expression of our ability, multiplied by our maximum possible effort, multiplied by our full contribution of heart. In many ways it is the most personal and intimate thing we can offer in a professional setting. It is the performance equivalent of what we offer in a deeply loving relationship – the best of ourselves. In this last 5% is the full measure of potential greatness inside

What if being generous was a better business strategy than clinging to control? Many years ago, one of my first entrepreneurial experiences involved promoting training programs for adults working with “difficult” children in schools and community programs. When I and my colleagues entered this scene, there were already several large and established providers. Some were for-profit professional development machines with slick marketing and lots of market reach. Others were univ

The single greatest driver of happiness and performance in the workplace is the quality of your relationships. When we are strongly bonded to those around us, know that our voice and ideas matter, and feel efficacious in bringing those ideas to reality in a well-functioning team, everything else around “satisfaction” usually falls into place. This ultimately matters more to most people than money, benefits, and paid vacation days. Those things are important too, but they pale

Not all organizations that are great are good. But all organizations that are good, achieve a form of greatness. For further proof of the first point, consider the recent struggles of Amazon. I don’t mean that they are struggling financially. In fact, the lockdown measures implemented over the last year that crippled and challenged most small to medium-sized businesses around the world, have been an absolute boon to companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple . Confused about

“Everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the mouth.” Truer words were never spoken. In this case the philosopher was former heavyweight champion of the world, “Iron” Mike Tyson. In a pre-fight interview a reporter was recounting the preparation and planning his opponent had logged to get ready to face Tyson – a nightmarishly brutal fighter known for quick finishes and crushing the dreams (and jaws) of rivals. The quote became immortalized because it struck on a basic h

Just because people are clapping, doesn’t mean they agree. A few years ago, I did a mini speaking tour in Eastern Europe – one of my absolute favorite places to be in the world. The warm and thoughtful people, excellent food (especially for a dedicated carnivore), and the rich history of art, culture, and philosophy made for yet another inspiring trip to the East. I couldn’t help but imagine that my Slovakian grandmother was walking beside me as I made my way around region… W

How do you win when you’re in a position that is strategically unwinnable? A “Kobayashi Maru” is any situation in which all available options will seemingly lead to undesirable outcomes, and yet as a leader you must act. For the smarty pants folks out there, yes, doing nothing is also an action. This classic conundrum comes from the most classic leadership master-course course of all time, Star Trek. No, not the emotionally intelligent and refined Star Trek Next Generation. I