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Archive for the 'Leadership' Category
Friday, May 20th, 2011
Whether a company has 10 or 10,000 people the right people reporting directly to you and whether you call them vice presidents or something else they are critical to your success.
For convenience I’m going to use vp to refer to the top people in your company; those who report directly to the CEO and are responsible for the different functions (with or without staff).
They are the people the CEO relies on
- as a sounding board;
- for both tactical and strategic intelligence;
- to tell it like it is—even when she doesn’t want to hear it
- to see and understand the big picture;
- to lead the effort in employee acquisition, motivation, and retention;
- to support and strengthen the culture she envisioned;
- to not sabotage another group or start a turf war, and
- to help stamp out politics whenever and wherever it rears its ugly head.
And more, but you get the idea.
The first item on your agenda when creating a senior staff is to determine what parts of your business/company (beyond the standard ones of finance, development, marketing, and sales) need to report directly to the CEO for peak performance.
You never want a truly critical function reporting through, and responsible to, someone else (agendas do get in the way).
It may be customer service (or whatever it’s called); it could be IT; if you are large enough to have a real HR department (not just a benefits admin) it should definitely report directly.
Support functions are often left to report to the CFO, which can prevent them from being used fro real strategic advantage.
Where does one find talented VPs? Now and then you’ll be lucky enough to actually hire one complete with all the bells and whistles, but more likely you will find a current VP, or talented director, with some of them, or with the right potential.
Be aware that one of the main things that sets great VPs apart from merely good ones, as well as other managers, is a strong strategic ability, which means they see the entire team and understand how their department fits into the whole.
It’s not a given, I’ve known many C-level executives who never grasp this, as well as director level (and lower) managers who get it.
Every member of your staff needs a real understanding of business, including financials, and it’s your responsibility, as their manager, to make sure they get whatever training and information is needed to do their job as a member of your senior staff.
Further, if you want the most powerful senior staff possible cross train them in each other’s functions and challenges.
Think of the phenomenal value of a CFO who understands the intricacies of manufacturing as more than a set of numbers; a VP of Engineering who understands financials and inventory turns; an HR head who understands what actually happens in the different departments, etc.
Think of the power inherent in a senior staff that understands what it takes to turn an idea into a product and a product into revenue.
And if you still have doubts about hiring all that power, don’t focus on the difference it would make to the company, but rather the difference it would make doing your own job.
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Posted in Business info, Hiring, Leadership | No Comments »
Monday, May 2nd, 2011
 It’s May Day and it was actually sunny all day long. This is a big deal here in the great Pacific Northwest, where we are having our second cool, rainy, late spring. I spent the day in my yard, moving a few plants, but mostly pulling weeds. It was great. Dan McCarthy spent a few hours of his day putting together this month’s Leadership Carnival. Guess who had more fun?
So without more ado, here is The May 1st Leadership Development Carnival; Thanks, Dan!
We’ll start off with a post from Jennifer Miller, called “8 Ways for CEOs to Tap Thier Insiders“, posted at The People Equation, saying “Management by walking around gets a fresh look with this research that touts productivity gains for CEOs who build relationships with company insiders”.
Next up is Wally Bock, with “You don’t “build” people, dammit!”, hosted at his Three Star Leadership blog, saying “People are living things. You don’t build living things, they grow.”
Steve Roesler presents Real Change: Add Behavior to Your Vision posted at All Things Workplace, saying, “Leading Change means getting beyond the vision and impacting behavior.”
Mary Jo Asmus presents Reflecting On Your 360 Degree Feedback posted at Mary Jo Asmus.
Art Petty presents Trying Not to Fail Is Not the Same As Striving for Success posted at Management Excellence.
Sharlyn Lauby presents If You’re Not With Us posted at hr bartender, saying, “Part of management is being able to help employees manage their workload.”
Mark Stelzner presents Will I Fit In? posted at Inflexion Point.
David Burkus presents The Designful Leader posted at LeaderLab.
Anne Pershel gives us Power: How to Build it over Time & Lose it Overnight, posted at Germane Insights, saying “I learned the hard way to respect the dynamics of power in organizational life. In this post you will read the story and lessons learned.”
Eric Pennington presents The Giving Up Thing posted at Epic Living – Leadership Development , saying, “In this post I address the crossroads of “giving up.” The reasons we’re tempted to give up and the key reasons to keep going are addressed in this timely piece.”
William Matthies presents A Macro Business Plan? posted at Business Wisdom: Words to Manage By, saying, “Life guidance will hopefully be grounded in positive ethics.”
Bret L. Simmons presents Employee Empowerment: Why It Matters And How To Get It posted at Bret L. Simmons.
Mike Henry Sr. presents a post from Deb Costello called “Inspiration vs. Perspiration” posted at Lead Change Group Blog, saying, “You are a leader in your work whether you have that title or not. People see you do your job. Do you do it joyfully or are you working for the weekend?”
Miki Saxon presents Ducks In A Row: Are You Well-Put-Together? posted at MAPping Company Success, saying, “Based on today’s definition, well-put-together is the last thing you want to be.”
Erik Samdahl presents Dance With the One What Brung Ya posted at Productivity Blog, saying, “Howard Schultz’s focus since returning to the helm of Starbucks has been to remind the company of what made it great from its beginnings and, in effect, re-teaching all levels of the company how to execute against its original brand promise.”
Jon Ingham presents John Lewis’ Co-Ownership Model and The Royal Wedding posted at Management 2.0 developing social capital.
Anna Farmery presents Connecting Bill Clinton, music, Elvis and business! posted at The Engaging Brand.
Utpal Vaishnav presents Entrepreneurship 30 posted at Utpal Vaishnav, saying, “30 thoughts to know whether Entrepreneurship is for you or not.”
Adi Gaskell presents Do entrepreneurs think differently? | Chartered Management Institute posted at Do entrepreneurs think differently?, saying, “New research into the type of behaviour differences between entrepreneurs and managers.”
Michael Cardus presents 2 Kinds of Workplaces. 1 of Paranoia 1 of Trust posted at Create-Learning Team Building & Leadership Blog, saying, “The workplace has the capacity to develop paranoia and/or trust. Psychologically when aroused either mechanism in people readily takes over. They magnify and distort the reality that is separate from our perception and experience.”
Meg Bear presents Bring your whole self to work posted at TalentedApps, saying, “Encouraging employees to be full and complete people — with a wealth of experiences, ideas, commitments, values and thoughts to offer your company, is a linchpin for most engagement strategies.”
Laura Schroeder presents Top Ten Tips for Managers posted at Working Girl.
These posts were all submitted by Becky Robinson:
From Guy Harris, “Three Clues You Can Use to Find Out What Motivates Another Person.” The key to motivating others is understanding what they view as rewards.
From Becky’s own blog, “Share What You Know.” Leaders can make a difference by freely sharing their ideas, wisdom, and insights with others.
Finally, from the Bud to Boss Community blog, this post from featured blogger Phil Gerbyshak: “Communication: Giving Better Directions.” In this post, Phil shares some great tips leaders can use to communicate more effectively. Debbie Owen presents How to Bring About Sustainable Change posted at Online Doctorate Degree.
Chris Edmonds presents The Leader’s Primary Contribution: Discretionary Energy posted at Driving Results Through Culture.
Jason Price presents The Biggest Lie of Leadership posted at One Money Design, saying, “This post shares an important ingredient of good leadership which is most often not what people see when thinking of leaders.”
Joe Tichio presents Inspirational Leadership Quotes posted at Inspirational Quotes Blog, saying, “A collection of inspiring quotes on leadership and being a leader.”
Robert Tanner presents Leading Change (Step 5): Empower Broad Based Action | Management is a Journey Blog posted at Management is a Journey Blog, saying, “This article provides strategies on implementing Step 5 of John Kotter’s Leading Change Model–empower broad based action.”
Andy Klein presents A leader’s dilemma: What’s the best way to influence action? posted at Fortune Group Blog, saying, “Leaders are confronted with two options when trying to influence people to act. To us, picking between the two is an easy choice.”
Bob Lieberman presents Nobody Wants To Know Me Anymore posted at Cultivating Creativity – Developing Leaders for the Creative Economy.
Alicia Arnold presents 5 Ways to Get Out of a Creative Slump posted at Daily Creativity, saying, “Around the globe, innovation is cited as one of the top three leadership skills for the future. This article provides easy to implement tips for increasing personal creativity as a building block for harnessing creativity and innovation with the workplace.”
Image credit: Great Leadership
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Saturday, April 9th, 2011
 Another month another Leadership Development Carnival hosted by Sharlyn Lauby at HR Bartender. It’s the perfect way to start your weekend. Click around and you’ll start Monday with great new tools and knowledge to jumpstart your week and your future.
Many thanks to our Carnival Leader, Dan McCarthy from Great Leadership, for allowing me to host this event for a second time. Be sure to check out his latest post I’m Your Boss, Not Your Friend: 10 Reasons Why Your Boss Shouldn’t be Your Friend
Leadership
Need a little energy to get started on this month’s carnival reading? Art Petty serves up some Leadership Caffeine: 5 Ideas for Creating a Tenacious Culture
Wally Bock at Three Star Leadership tells the story of when Susan was promoted to team leader, it was the highlight of her career, for about 12 hours in his post A New Boss who Shouldn’t Be One
At times, leadership can be less about your circumstances, what you were born with or what you’ve learned. Benjamin McCall at ReThink HR explains Leadership is about what you have…
Tanmay Vora from QAspire Blog provides 10 Key Lessons on Leading Virtual Teams Effectively
Leaders shouldn’t just go along with the crowd, according to i4cp’s Productivity Blog. They should be a positive irritant, as explained in the post Thank You for Being Irritating
Linda Fisher Thornton discusses Judging and Bullying: Are They Different? at Leading in Context
Changing Winds blog shares their thoughts for dealing with the rapid advancements in telecommunications technology in Leading in a Virtualized World: 10 Traits of a Cyber Leader
Jane Perdue at Get Your Leadership BIG On! talks about All the Broken Leaders
Guy Farmer at Unconventional Training discusses Leadership Training: Are You an Effective Leader?
Jesse Lyn Stoner tells us the story of what happens When Leaders Don’t Lead
Elegant Leadership blog gives a first-hand example of one of the most difficult patterns to change in the post Splitters Cause Mayhem
Erin Schreyer at Authentic Leadership blog asks Are You a Win-Win Leader?
Anna Farmery at The Engaging Brand outlines the 5 Pitfalls of Democratisation
Should a CEO seek to destroy their office? That’s the question Chartered Management Institute asks in their post Do You Need a CEO?
Mike Henry at LeadChange Group gives us a list of the 13 Bad Excuses for Letting Poor Performance Slide
Do the Team a Favor – Get Rid of the Loser is Trent Cotton’s advice on his blog, A Driver Minded Guy Living in a Passenger Minded World. He draws comparisons between toxic organizations and the phases a neoplasm must go through to becoming a life threatening malignancy.
Management
The first job of a manager is to provide clarity. Explaining what “not” to do is one natural approach. Steve Roesler cautions us in offering direction with Management Direction: Does “Don’t” Mean “Do”? at his blog, All Things Workplace
We’ve heard the cliché that managers should hire slowly and terminate quickly. The Thriving Small Business blog explores Why Hiring and Firing Decisions are Difficult
Working Girl Laura Schroeder shares her experiences on managing more experienced workers in Project Social: Young Manager
Over at Joe and Wanda on Management, Dr. Todd Dewett explains When Managers Should Address Performance Issues and provides a framework for intervening
Middle Managers Get No Respect! discusses the challenges of being middle management over at Management is a Journey blog
Guy Harris, The Recovering Engineer, says You Cannot Punish People into Good Behavior
Andy Klein at the Fortune Group Blog reminds us Think creating value is only the sales team’s responsibility? Think again
Want some useful tips from Tina Fey’s experiences on SNL? Check out Alex Drexel’s post, Lessons in Management from Saturday Night Live, over at Talented Apps
Executive Development
Jennifer V. Miller offers 5 Tips for Creating a “Speak Up” Culture over at her blog, The People Equation
David Burkus at LeaderLab discusses the potentially faulty assumptions of Jack Welch’s favored “rank and yank” method in his post The Topgrading Dilemma
The Bud to Boss blog reminds us of the 10 Common Mistakes Leaders Make Delivering Feedback
Is it really possible to “think outside the box” or is something else going on? Miki Saxon shares her theory in Entrepreneur Creativity Grows in Boxes
All About Living with Life blog tells us Effective Ways to have a Successful Personal Brand
Mark Anthony McCray shares a great exercise for keeping a positive attitude in Get Some Balls!
Leaders can prepare for the future when they see emerging waves before they hit the shore. But where are those secret clues? Anne Perschel tells you the answer in The Future: All Upside Down & Inside Out
With technology distractions chipping away at our everyday productivity, it’s little wonder that so many people are looking for ways to get more work done. The personal finance blog, MoneyedUP, offers 5 Ways to Get More Work Done
Succession Planning
Dr. Bret L. Simmons tells us why Leaders Invest In Their Employees
Developing Talent is the message from The CEO’s Desk blog
Richard Bosworth ponders the question What if…you appointed more women to senior positions?
Becky Robinson’s Weaving Influence tells a story about leadership, Spring and Hatching
Coaching
Meg Bear shares the secret to success in Want to Enhance Your Career…Get Happy on Tahlent blog
Mary Jo Asmus distinguishes between Compete, Cooperate, or Collaborate? at Aspire CS blog
Want to know The Forgotten Key to Effective Feedback? Kevin Eikenberry tells us at Leadership & Learning blog.
No team in business or life could perform at a high level without a few unsung heroes. Eric Pennington at Epic Living explains Sometimes It’s Better to be a Role Player
Louise Altman talks about Why Neuroscience SHOULD Change the Way We Manage People over at Intentional Workplace
Ken Klaus from Talented Apps writes Abandoning Successful Careers to Embrace Our Vocations: A Less Than Historic Lesson from the Life of Vincent van Gogh
We always want to share our experiences and how we solved problems. Michael Cardus at Create-Learning blog explains why Your Solution Will Not Work For Me
Business Wisdom’s Bill Matthies says what’s more important than knowing you can’t do it all is determining what you won’t do. Check out his post What You Won’t As Much As What You Will
And last but certainly not least, Lynn Dessert at Elephants at Work lists 20 Ways to Help Today. It’s a resource for helping a family member, friend, or colleague who is dealing with job loss.
Image Credit: MykReeve on flickr
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Friday, March 11th, 2011
 People, especially those in management/leadership roles, have advisors, mentors and other people they consult; they read blogs, attend seminars, access company training and all these sources constantly inundate them with management advice.
Everybody listens, especially when the technique is coupled with a brand name, usually a CEO.
And that’s OK as long as you remember that you are not a copy of the person giving the advice.
Their advice is a result of their MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™) as formed by their upbringing and their experiences.
If the shoe fits, wear it.
You have different MAP, different upbringing and different experiences, so to use what you learn to your best advantage you need to know you.
Duff Goldman, who parleyed his passion for cake into a multimillion dollar business, including a show on the food channel and celebrity status, knows he is fallible, but has turned that fallibility into an asset.
“I kind of know what works, and I kind of know what doesn’t work. I have a good idea for how to make money and how to hold onto it — how to hopefully not make too many mistakes. But I know I’m going to make mistakes. My confidence comes from the fact that I’m very comfortable with being nervous. I’m very comfortable with my fear, because my fear comes from a very real place. It comes from a place that will make me perform above and beyond what I think I’m capable of doing.”
Duff Goldman knows himself.
If the shoe fits, wear it.
Along with the personal aspect of advice is the cultural one, both local and company.
Just as you don’t manage in China as you do in the US as you do in Russia you don’t manage in Groupon as you do in Apple as you do in Intel.
Management ranks (and divorce courts) are littered with those who tried to lever themselves into situations that didn’t fit or force everyone else into their worldview.
If the shoe doesn’t fit you get blisters and bunions; if the fit is bad enough you end up lame.
The take away is simple.
If the shoe fits, wear it; if it doesn’t fit, adjust it; if it isn’t adjustable, find shoes that fit.
Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ganymedes1985/3749273976/
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Posted in Business info, Leadership, Personal Growth | No Comments »
Monday, March 7th, 2011
It’s the first Monday of a new month and that means a new Leadership Development Carnival. I got a kick out of Dan McCarthy’s wild March list—March Madness, the ides of March, the March of Dimes, the March equinox, the March on Washington, Fredric March, National Frozen Food Day, National Woman’s History month, and Mardi Gras (more about March tomorrow).
So without more ado, here is your March Reading Madness.
First up is Mary Jo Asmus with a recipe for improving relationships: Conversation, Praise, Pizza, Books, and Chocolate, from Aspire-CS.
Jennifer V. Miller was in a generous mood and gives us 25 More Leadership Development Resources posted at The People Equation. Great stuff!
You may not win an Oscar for that last presentation you gave but, don’t worry, neither did any of this year’s Academy Award winners. Scott Eblin mines the Oscar ceremony for public speaking do’s and don’t's that every leader should keep in mind with Six Leadership Do’s and Don’ts From Oscar Night posted at Next Level Blog.
Here’s a look at why selling out your culture in the name of hiring or keeping a star performer often means turnover—not productivity. Miki Saxon presents Rock Star Regrets posted at MAPping Company Success.
You’ve heard of the “Tiger Mom”? Wally Bock tells us about his “Tiger Teacher“, Mrs. McKinley, at Three Star Leadership. She was really, really tough, but she was really, really good.
Here’s Kevin Eikenberry’s Six Ways to Build on Recent Success, from Leadership Learning. In this post, Kevin encourages leaders to help people move on from success to even greater success.
Becky Robinson gives us Fences, from her blog Weaving Influence, about work/life balance. In order to make a difference in the lives of others, leaders must successfully balance family and work priorities.
Class, pay attention: here’s an important lesson from the Doctor, Bret Simmons: How You Kill Motivation At Work | Bret L. Simmons – Positive Organizational Behavior posted at Bret L. Simmons – Positive Organizational Behavior.
Or, for those of you that have a hard time paying attention in school, maybe you’ll take advice from the bartender: Sharlyn Lauby, next month’s Carnival host, presents HOW TO: Set Relevant Goals — hr bartender posted at HR Bartender.
Art Petty really nails it with this one: 4 Key Skills Leaders Must Develop to Succeed in Today’s Workplace posted at Management Excellence. Well said, Art.
Who knew Rochester, New York, was a such a blogging hot spot? Here’s a couple great posts from two of my old neighbors: Lynn Dessert presents Do we fear transparency or …. ourselves? posted at Elephants at Work, and Steve Boese presents Winning Time posted at Steve Boese’s HR Technology.
In a world where change is constant every company needs an anchor. In this short story, Santa, upon returning from his post holiday vacation, illustrates what should not change and what should. From one of my New England neighbors, Anne Perschel: Santa Inc. Announces Social Media, Branding & Diversity Strategies posted at Germane Insights.
From a couple of our past Carnival hosts:
Jane Perdue presents Tap into Your Creativity; Get Your Leadership BIG On! posted at Get Your Leadership BIG On!; and
Mark Stelzner presents JobAngels: The Journey Continues posted at Inflexion Point.
There’s a difference between caring and care-taking. This post focuses on what it really means to lead from a caring perspective. Don’t worry, it’s not as warm and fuzzy as it sounds. Gwyn Teatro presents The Importance of Being Care-full posted at You’re Not the Boss of Me.
Whether leadership or management all of us have a customer. The bigger point is that whatever field or role you are in… you should always know who your customer is! Benjamin McCall presents Customer Focus – Do you know who your customer is? | ReThinkHR – (ReThink Human Resources) posted at ReThinkHR – (ReThink Human Resources).
During this time of growing labor disputes, both in the private and public sectors, time to rethink the relationship between labor and management. Bill Matthies presents A Never Ending Struggle? posted at Business Wisdom: Words to Manage By.
S. Max Brown offers 5 questions about gender and leadership that spawned much thought and an interesting conversation on his site this month. Mike Henry presents Gender, Leadership, and CSV – Lead Change Group posted at Lead Change Group.
We need to learn subtraction at work: David Zinger presents Employee Engagement: Management Moxie Through Subtraction posted at David Zinger Associates – Employee Engagement.
In this post, Eric Pennington, gives reasons for finding the type of work and life that requires “you” to show-up. Sometimes inspiration comes from surprising situations. Eric Pennington presents What A Florist Taught Me About Life and Work posted at Epic Living – Leadership Development Career Management Training Executive Life Coaching Author.
A post on how you can get into the right mindset for success: Adi Gaskell presents Create the Mindset for Business Success! | Chartered Management Institute posted at The Management Blog.
Kevin Eikenberry, co-author of “From Bud to Boss,” makes his second appearance on the Management Tips Podcast Series. With this tip, Kevin focuses on new leaders. He suggests that new managers have five very important conversations as soon as possible. If they do, their jobs will be much more effective and enjoyable. Listen to the podcast to find out more: Nick McCormick presents 5 Must-Have Conversations for New Leaders posted at Joe and Wanda on Management.
Here’s an examination of why companies want to be on the 100 Best Places to Work list: Erik Samdahl presents Why You Want to be on This List posted at Productivity Blog.
An above average post from Anna Farmery: When you just don’t want to be average….. posted at The Engaging Brand.
The always hard working girl Laura Schroeder presents Modern Workforce: Managing Remote Workers posted at Working Girl.
This blog post shares three simple steps to be positively critical: Dominic Rajesh presents Critically yours… posted at Dom’s Blog ….
Observations on leadership from the Egyptian crisis: Robert Tanner presents Egypt – When Trust Fails, Leaders Fail! posted at Management is a Journey Blog.
Linda Fisher Thornton presents The Ethical Leadership Puzzle: A Broader View posted at Leading in Context.
We understand the art of influence. We understand the need to motivate and listen, and develop a working productive relationship with our colleagues. We collaborate with the team and find a way to make progress. Often this activity involves active listening more than active speaking. Elyse Nielsen presents Developing Effective Work Relationships posted at Anticlue. Hmmm, March must be national relationship month. (-:
In businesses every day, managers find ways (often unintentionally) to demotivate their employees. This post shares three common examples of where managers often go wrong:Andy Klein presents Three ways for managers to demotivate employees — guaranteed! posted at Fortune Group Blog.
Mike Cardus gives us some important managerial selection criteria: They Can’t Be Crazy! Plus 4 other necessary qualities of managerial leaders. posted at Team Building & Leadership Blog: Create-Learning.
Being a leader requires a certain level of humility if you even want people to follow you. This post covers how to be more humble: Mike King presents 50 Ways to Be More Humble and to Act Humbly posted at Learn This.
Well, someone always has to go last….. this post discusses key practices for businesses to remain productive during the downturn period: Charlotte Hird presents What if…you strengthened your core business? posted at Business Strategy and Executive Coaching with The What If? Specialist.
Image credit: Great Leadership
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Friday, February 18th, 2011
 What does the boss really contribute to her organization?
The culture; it’s the boss’ MAP that forms and shapes the culture for her organization.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a mom and pop operation, startup or global giant; whether the company has two, two thousand or twenty thousand employees; whether the boss is called owner, founder, president or CEO.
Cultural ideas can’t percolate up from the ranks without a top boss who enables the bottom-up culture in the first place, as well as providing the fertilizer that allows ideas to bloom.
It’s not enough to announce the cultural attributes in which you believe, such as no politics, and then ignore political actions because you believe that your senior staff are adults and won’t engage in behavior that goes unrewarded.
Even those who manage culture by benign neglect must see to it that there are repercussions for actions that flaunt the corporate culture just as there are for actions that violate legal issues such as harassment.
And all this is just as true for the individual subcultures that establish themselves around every manager in the company all the way down through team leader.
Creating and caring for the culture should be written into every manager’s job description at every level.
If that seems a bit extreme, keep in mind that study after study has proven that culture affects productivity, engagement, innovation and retention.
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Saturday, February 12th, 2011
Mark Stelzner at Inflexion Point looks at the January Leadership Carnival through the lens of Valentine’s Day and the non-romantic relationship of worker and boss.
Who (And What) To Choose?
We’ve all found ourselves in a questionable relationship and wondered if it was worth staying together. At a pre-Valentine’s crossroads, our wise and helpful friends would recommend sitting down with a blank sheet of paper and itemizing what redeeming qualities may exist. Let’s see what these leadership list makers conjured up:
So Many Questions.
So you’ve decided to press forward and pursue your leadership development sweetheart with complete abandon. Yet still, there are so many questions left unanswered. Here are some shower-worthy items to ponder as you prepare for your big business date:
Polite Dinner Conversation
You want to make a good impression and seem like a decent conversationalist. Attentive, but not too needy or self-involved. Here’s are some items sure to allow you a measure of whimsy while maintaining the panache and flair of a modern leadership guru:
It’s Not You, It’s Me
Of course, even the seemingly best planned leadership romance can end in an ill-conceived malay replete with hurt feelings and charged emotions. So if a bended knee to pick up a dropped napkin doesn’t turn into the organizational proposal you were hoping for, excuse yourself from the table and grab your cell. Aren’t you fortunate to have friends like these to talk you through it?
Check Please!
Now calmly return to the table and flag down the waiter – it’s time to wrap up this romantic rodeo. And don’t let your leadership date get all pushy or touchy. No amount of office flowers or sugary treats can replace the respect you’ll have from walking away. There are plenty of other leaders in the “C” and you’re a strong swimmer. Just remember…
Live to Love Again
Return home, pour a glass of wine, kick up your feet and breathe. You’re going to be just fine and it’s time to go back to basics and begin to look toward the future. You’re good enough, you’re strong enough and doggone it people like you!
Image credit: MykReeve on flickr
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Posted in Expand Your Mind, Leadership | 2 Comments »
Friday, January 28th, 2011
There is a wonderful post by Kent Lineback at HBR called The Leadership Learning Moment That Wasn’t. In it he tells of blowing a great opportunity because he couldn’t get the other executives in the company to buy into his vision.
“What do you think is going on? I made an important point and everybody yawned and moved on.”
“It was an important point,” he [the consultant] said, “but you didn’t build any bridges.”
Lineback goes on to say that he thought long and hard about the consultant’s words and realized he was right.
“I didn’t build bridges. I didn’t reach out and connect with others on their terms. I talked at them. I had a solution, a beautiful vision. I knew the answer, and I spent my time telling everyone what it was and what the company had to do.
But that didn’t change anything.
I knew he was right. I knew I should do what he said. But I couldn’t debase my perfect vision by turning it into a free-for-all idea jam. Better to stay pure and fall on my sword, a martyr.”
That is one of the great problems of leadership visions, they are the property of one person; one person who will do almost anything to sell the vision—anything except share and modify it.
Leadership visions happen at all levels of a company from the CEO down to the newest supervisor.
It’s a side effect of drinking the leadership Kool-Aid, so you might want to think twice before indulging your thirst.
Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/khurt/5252851284/
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Monday, January 17th, 2011
 Every conversation about leadership talks about ‘influence’ and how to increase yours.
In a post at Forbes, Howard Scharlatt defines influence this way,
Influence is, simply put, the power and ability to personally affect others’ actions, decisions, opinions or thinking. At one level, it is about compliance, about getting someone to go along with what you want them to do.
He goes on to describe three kinds of influencing tactics: logical, emotional and cooperative, or influencing with head, heart and hands and talks about ‘personal influence’ and its importance in persuading people when authority is lacking.
A couple of years ago I wrote The Power of Words and said, “Personally, other than socially acceptable definitions, I don’t see a lot of difference between influence and manipulation,” and I still don’t.
I realize most people consider manipulation negative and influence positive, but they are just words.
I often hear that leaders are good people, while manipulators are bad people. But as I pointed out in another post,
- leaders are not by definition “good;”
- they aren’t always positive role models; and
- one person’s “good” leader is another person’s demon.
Everyone believes that they use their influence in a positive way, but when you persuade people to do whatever who are you to say that the outcome is positive for them?
Influence, persuasion, manipulation; call it what you will, just remember that it is power and be cautious when you wield it.
Image credit: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/363547
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Monday, January 3rd, 2011
A new year mean a new month and a new Leadership Development Carnival, hosted this month by Dan McCarthy of Great Leadership fame. In it you’ll find some old friends along with some new faces. Enjoy!
To start off, are you looking for something that will stretch you as a leader in 2011? Scott Eblin has been finding some Leadership Lessons in Yoga. Don’t roll those eyes…. Scott knows what he’s talking about, and has a knack for finding leadership lessons in the world around us. See for yourself, with Leadership Lessons from Yoga posted at Next Level Blog. Join Scott for a free teleseminar on Charting Your Course for 2011 with a Life GPS®. It’s on Jan. 13. Register here.
Remember Tom Hanks declaring “There’s no crying in baseball”? When is it proper for leaders to show emotion? William Powell of The Leadership Advisor explores various opinions and prejudices on that very subject. Mike Henry Sr. contributes There’s No Crying in Leadership posted at Lead Change Group Blog.
Jennifer Miller offers us her most popular post of the year, and asks if people really care about leadership development, or if they just can’t resist a free offer. For me, the answer is both. (-:
Check out her list of 25 free leadership development resources, at Do People Care About Leadership Development? posted at The People Equation.
Here’s something for all managers to think about….. what’s the best way to “help” your employees? Mary Jo Asmus says it’s not by solving their problems for them. She explains why, in Help Them to Think posted at Mary Jo Asmus.
Business leaders and management writers bemoan the lack of execution but there’s no problem getting executives to conduct planning sessions and planning reviews. It’s not really hard to understand why that is. Wally Bock provides an answer to the question with Why People would Rather Plan Than Execute, at Three Star Leadership.
Lynn Dessert offers more tips on getting things done with how to Establish accountability in your personal plan posted at Elephants at Work.
Here are some great questions for all leaders to ponder…..
From Bret Simmons: Are We Engaged Yet? posted at Bret L. Simmons – Positive Organizational Behavior.
Linda Fisher Thornton gets us thinking about ethics with Ethical Thinking: 5 Questions to Ponder for the New Year posted at Leading in Context LLC.
Benjamin McCall asks Silver Bullet? Who should you look to for Answers? posted at ReThinkHR – (ReThink Human Resources).
Kathy C asks What is Succession Planning? posted at The Thriving Small Business.
Nissim Ziv asks Why do you want to be a Leader? posted at Job Interview & Career Guide.
These bloggers offer answers to some of the most important leadership challenges we all face:
Thinking about becoming a more influential leader in 2011? I sure am. Steve Roessler gives us five ways to bump up your game with Five Ways to Boost Your Influence posted at All Things Workplace.
Not many think of learning to cope as a critical leadership competency. Miki Saxon tells us why it should be in Leadership’s Future: Coping posted at MAPping Company Success.
Michael Lee Stallard writes about the importance of Overcoming Leadership Myopia posted at Michael Lee Stallard.
Giving and getting recognition is the theme of these next three posts.
Tim Porthouse gives us 4 powerful ways to say “Thank You” at work: 4 Thank Yous On Steroids | Zealeap posted at Zealeap.
In this ten-minute “Management Tips Podcast” Chester Elton, co-author of The Orange Revolution, explains why recognition is “The Great Communicator” and how we can get better at delivering it. Nick McCormick presents Recognition: The Great Communicator posted at Joe and Wanda on Management.
Can’t take a complement? Art Petty tells us How to Appropriately Respond to Positive Praise posted at Management Excellence. Hey Art, you’re one of my favorite leadership bloggers and an all around great person and friend. Can’t wait to read your new Leadership Caffeine book! Gee, maybe I learned something.
More great leadership advice:
David Burkus presents another Bret Simmons piece The Importance Of Working With People You Like from his LeaderLab. Yes, I sometimes allow two posts from the same blogger if it’s on a different blog. And besides, it’s from Bret Simmons, nuff said.
The award for the longest blog title goes to Michael Cardus for Reverse Peter Principle: within a hierarchy tasks tend to be delegated until they have descended to the employees level of incompetence posted at Create-Learning Team Building & Leadership Blog. Whew!
For some tips on getting creative, take a look at Bob Lieberman’s Framing Leadership Challenges posted at Cultivating Creativity – Leadership Development for the Creative Economy and Mike King’s 7 Quick Ways to Boost Your Creativity posted at Learn This.
Putting a team together sure can be puzzling. Tanveer Naseer asks Are You Fitting Employee Personality Into Your Leadership Puzzle? posted at TanveerNaseer.com, and Gregory Farley tells us how to create a real team, vs. a group on individuals, with The puzzle pieces posted at Voices of Leadership.
And this one from Kevin Eikenberry, Leadership is about Engagement, from Leadership & Learning.
Here are some posts that explore the more personal and spiritual side of leadership. Go on, take a few moments to dig deep…..
Susan Finerty writes about The beauty of iteration posted at Leadership Mutt (I love the blog name!).
Becky Robinson (in her new blog) gives us A Bright Thread of Grace posted at Becky Robinson Weaving Influence.
Erin Pavlina presents Cultivating Command and Leadership posted at Erin Pavlina – Spiritual Wisdom for Conscious People.
Anne Perschel gets at the heart of leadership with Touching The Heart of Coaching posted at Germane Insights.
Glen Madden presents New leaders legacy list posted at MissionLogs.
We can’t have a New Year’s Carnival without “best of” lists and New Year’s predictions:
Sharlyn Lauby serves up A Bartender’s Predictions for 2011 posted at HR Bartender.
Alice Snell gives us an encore with Taleo’s Top Ten for 2011 posted at Taleo Blog – Talent Management Solutions.
More HR predictions from Bruce Lewin, with Reviewing Predictions for HR posted at Four Groups’ Blog.
Erik Samdahl weighs in with The Top 10 Talent Trends of 2010 posted at Productivity Blog.
Mark Stelzner, next month’s Carnival host, not only gives us his HR predictions for 2011, he grades his list for 2010, with 2011: The Year of Reactionary HR posted at Inflexion Point.
We’ll wrap it up with a New Year’s Wish from Bill Matthies posted at Business Wisdom: Words to Manage By.
Image credit: Great Leadership
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