Ronald Wiplinger's thoughts

However, it is your fault if it remains like that!

Follow-through is just as impotant as good decisionmaking in the first place. When deciding on a course of action, set measurable objectives that can be monitored over time to make sure the decision is yielding the intended benefits. By "avoid Newton's Law", I mean that "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." Assume that your decision may have second- and third-order effects. Monitor the progress of the actions you set in motion to make sure these effects are not counter-productive, and if they are, that they are addressed early.

When used properly, these disciplines are a powerful management tool to keep programs on course. However, it is essential that the manager use the disciplines to gain insight into his or her program and its progress, and not simply as a way to "check the box".

Remember, you can't pick your family, but you can pick your boss.

The point here is that in the workplace, unike in your family, you have a choice. You will have many bosses in the course of your career. You are not totally passive in the process of "selecting" your boss. You have a choice, more than you may realize. Be proactive.

By the way, I have great family, and I love them. I hope you are also as blessed as I am.

When something appears on a slide presentation, assume the world knows about it and deal with it accordingly.

Don't think that what shows up in a presentation is private. It will come out. Accept this as a given, and deal with this fact up front. As a leader, when people try to convince you that something you are looking at on the screen - proprietary, competition sensitive and so forth - will never leave the room, assume it already has and deal with it accordingly.

In fact, assume that it will be published in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times or The Washington Post. And always maintain an atmosphere of total integrity.