Online Outrage: Fuel for the System, Not Power for You
Corporal Rockjaw was unusually amicable that day. He told us that if anyone thought the mess hall food was shit, they should write their complaint on a list, add their force number and ID, and…
3AM Questions
Some questions cut back. They keep returning, century after century, generation to generation. They will stalk us as long as we are human and still failing at being it. Even when the machines rule, the…
Facing Life ] [This way, Probably
I was in a crowd. We were being herded like sheep. Maybe not. Maybe sheep got better treatment. I remember military intake with a clarity I wish I had for the rest of my life.…
Ammonia Avenue, Eighties Radio Ads, and the Soundtracks That Shape Our Language
Only the Alan Parsons could make a record as innovative, as exciting, as Ammonia Avenue! That’s a bold statement, but hey, it was the mid 80s! The clip is from a radio commercial. Some of…
Why Leadership Seminars Are Absurd: Universal Skills Live beyond the Executive Watercooler
Leadership courses and seminars are absurd inventions of the corporate age. Seriously, for crying out loud, what exactly were these people doing before they signed up for a three-day “transformation” in a hotel ballroom? The…
Talent vs. Micro-Management: How to Spot, Survive, and Navigate Dysfunctional Leadership
Where was the wholesale leadership bargain-bin? I must’ve missed that sale. Online groups churn out motivational fluff, polished “gotcha” moments, sanitized wisdom for leaders. But where are the minions? Maybe I haven’t stumbled across the…
How Platitudes Destroy Your Mindset (And What to Do About It)
So what the hell are platitudes, and why do they kill your vibe? “Manifest your reality!” “Positive vibes only!” Some platitudes are rotten, and the festering fruit hangs lower. Once on the train, between a…
LinkedIn Pushback Experiment: What Challenging Platitudes Taught Me
I once wrote about my disappointment with the chrome-polished platitudes on LinkedIn, the shiny universal “truths” recycled inside an echo chamber where everyone nods at everything. Eventually I nuked my old account. Deleted years of…
We Crashed a FCKING Airport: How Panic Makes Disaster Worse
PODCAST https://mattlr.com/ A long time ago, on a Saturday, we ended up in the tower cab of a tiny regional airport on the outskirts of town. Tiny enough that one young woman ran the entire…
This way, probably. Past lost. Past broken.
Have you ever contemplated suicide? Not planned it, not obsessed over it, but contemplated it? Do you often label yourself as “lost,” or “broken?” How “lonely” are you? Sunday mornings, do they become dreaded signposts,…