Poking through 11+ years of posts I find information that’s as useful now as when it was written.

Golden Oldies is a collection of the most relevant and timeless posts during that time.

How do you hire? What do you focus on? What carries the most weight with you? How do you decide what is most relevant to your situation? Do you look hardest at what they’ve done or concentrate on what they could do in the future. And the key question, is your approach successful?

We’ll explore these ideas further this week.

Read other Golden Oldies here.

Dan McCarthy had a terrific post on why choosing leaders is a gamble—be sure to read the comments.

We see the idiocy of assuming that past performance is always a good predictor of the future all the time, but it seems especially true at senior levels.

First, there is the penchant for identifying ‘high potential’ starting in kindergarten and providing lots of extra training and coaching, while ignoring those who may be late bloomers or less obvious (read quieter).

Then there’s the Peter Principle, which is not only alive and well, but functioning even more efficiently today than it was when Laurence J. Peter first described it back in 1970.

We relish looking at the past to predict the future, thus choosing to ignore all extenuating circumstances and surrounding factors that played a role in the person’s performance.

We forget, or ignore, that

• one manager’s star is another manager’s bomb;
• the skills needed to take advantage of an economic expansion are very different from those needed in a downturn; and
• turmoil or an ongoing crisis in a person’s personal life often impacts their performance at work.

Last, but not least, we need to get over our love affair with the idea of the hero-leader who, with a wave of the hand, can part the seas and eliminate obstacles.

Image credit: Valerie Everett on flickr

How do you feel when you see or hear about a boss who bully his people—even if it isn’t your boss?

New research shows that the effects are similar whether the bullying is direct or second hand.

I read about the research last month on Dan McCarthy’s Great Leadership blog. He does a great job of summarizing the study, including quotes from it. (The full study must be purchased.)

Like second hand smoke, second hand bullying destroys and even kills—not the body, but the spirit.

“When vicarious abusive supervision is present, employees realize that the organization is allowing this negative treatment to exist, even if they are not experiencing it directly,” the researchers said.

Another recent study documents the long-term damage that affects both the bullied and their tormentors.

“It documents the elevated risk across a wide range of mental health outcomes and over a long period of time,” said Catherine Bradshaw, an expert on bullying and a deputy director of the Center for the Prevention of Youth Violence at Johns Hopkins University, which was not involved in the study. “The experience of bullying in childhood can have profound effects on mental health in adulthood, particularly among youths involved in bullying as both a perpetuator and a victim.”

And running into past bullies, even after 25 years, can cause anxiety and lead to questions about how to act.

I’ve written previously regarding the serious disengagement caused by a bullying culture and about bosses who aren’t role models.
Most managers assume that firing the bully fixes things, but these studies prove that isn’t the case and the termination certainly doesn’t rebuild trust in an organization that allowed it in the first place.

Bullying isn’t always obvious and may even resemble coaching at first glance, so it’s wise to take a second look and occasionally revisit the players just to be sure.

Obviously, it’s best to nip bullying in the bud and doing that takes vigilance—vigilance and the courage to act, whether it’s in your own organization or not.

That’s part of the job description for bosses at every level.

Flickr image credit: Deb Nystrom

Do you believe it? 2011 is three quarters over already, but you still have plenty of time to learn.

In fact, no matter how busy you are and how many demands there are for a “piece of you” you can still learn.

Doing so is often a case of modifying whom you learn from as well as your learning methods.

It’s actually pretty simple,

• recognize that you can learn from everybody, not just those who are senior to you or who agree with your opinions; and
• take advantage of everything that happens to learn at least one thing you didn’t know—no matter how minor.

Today’s carnival is a good example. Rarely do you have time to read every post, so choose posts from unfamiliar authors and/or with summaries that run counter to your current opinion.

Do this with a truly open and watch how much you learn.

Leadership

Robin Schooling presents Successful Managers Have Two-Faces posted at HR Schoolhouse. Robin challenges you to break the paradigm of your assumptions about managers vs. leaders.

Gwyn Teatro presents Caring or Care-taking?~A Fine Distinction posted at You’re Not the Boss of Me. I think Gwyn makes better than a fine distinction, it was obvious which leader I would prefer to work for.

Seth Brink presents Coach or Command, How Do You Lead Your Team Members? | Daily Art posted at Daily Art » The Blog. The choice between coach and command isn’t always clear.

Steve Roesler presents Ten Life Lessons From Business posted at All Things Workplace. Paying attention to lessons learned in business can yield well founded lessons for life.

Laura Schroeder presents Brains in a Jar posted at Compensation Cafe. One company’s unique way of recognizing employees caught Laura’s eye or should I say – brain.

Page Cole presents 5 Actions To Take After a Huge Failure – Lead Change Group posted at Lead Change Group Blog. We all blow it. Here are 5 actions you can take to make sure you respond properly to major mistakes.

Mary Jo Asmus presents Learning to Trust the Unique Ways Your Team Members Get Things Done posted at Aspire-CS. This coaching conversation is an invaluable lesson for a new manager.

Jimmy presents To Be Great Leaders! Just Be Yourself. | My Life Architects posted at My Life Architects. Authentic Leadership stems from self-awareness and how you make it work.

Guy Farmer presents How to Deal with Difficult People posted at Unconventional Training. A difficult person can be frustrating, consider Guy’s ten reminders on how to manager it better.

Jennifer V. Miller presents 5 Reasons Leaders Fear Embarrassment posted at The People Equation. Here are a few tips to help you through those embarrassing moments. I use the first and second remedies.

Sri Subramanian presents Bullies at work posted at TalentedApps. What is the key to effectively stopping bullies in the workplace?

Jon Ingham presents Collaborative Leadership in Asia posted at Management 2.0 developing social capital. Important leadership insights to help you be more collaborative in the global world.

S. Chris Edmonds presents What’s Your Leadership Philosophy? posted at Driving Results Through Culture. What you ARE defines the leader you will BE – every day.

Nick McCormick presents Leadership Commitments posted at Joe and Wanda on Management. A character in David Cottrell’s book “Monday Morning Leadership” provides a list of his leadership commitments.

Coaching

Jailan Marie presents Finding out WHO can help posted at Innovative Solutions For Positive Change. A good reminder there is always a WHO in your life to help you.

Lynn Dessert presents Networking is not a Deal Breaker for Introverts posted at Elephants at Work. Let’s get to the real issue by not accepting the excuse that you are an introvert.

Management

Rodney presents Ask the Right Questions posted at Life-fficient. These three questions will help you make your communications more effective.

Eric Pennington presents Your People Are Smarter Than You Think posted at Epic Living – Leadership Development Career Management Training Executive Life Coaching Author. In this post, you will uncover the dangers of managers underestimating the intelligence and talents of their people.

David Zinger presents Employee Engagement and the 3 Word Theme: Stop, Focus, and Finish posted at David Zinger Associates – Employee Engagement. David defines the benefits of themes and how to develop a yearly 3 word theme to enhance your own self-management.

Miki Saxon presents Ducks in a Row: Supporting Progress posted at MAPping Company Success. It ranks high on employee motivation surveys, doesn’t cost money and is within the control of every manager. So why does it elude so many?

Image credit: Great Leadership

It’s Labor Day and most of you are out laboring over your BBQ, on your boat, at the pool or on another of the myriad Labor Day opportunities to goof off. But just in case you are looking for more virtuous reading than that mystery, thriller or romance, this month’s Leadership Development Carnival, presented as a leadership shopping spree, has much to offer.

Aisle One: Pens and Pencils

Mark Bennett, from the Oracle team, starts us off with Uncertainty, Fear, and Our Response posted at TalentedApps, saying, “How leaders respond to uncertainty shows whether they think they even have a choice and how their choices can seriously affect the future.”
If you have an Ipad or access to one, check out the new Ipad version of this blog. Very cool! But no fair – after are, they’re Oracle. (-:

Anne Perschel and Marion Chapsal presents Leaders Stand When It’s Easier to Sit posted at Germane Insights. Great post on leaders taking a stand. I had the pleasure of having lunch with Anne this month – she’s as awesome in person as she is with her blog. I’m looking forward to some new research Anne and Marion are about to publish on woman and power.

Tanveer Naseer presents 4 Lessons On Team-Building I Learned From My Garden | posted at TanveerNaseer.com. Great lessons! I’m actually going to try them on my garden first – it’s looking like it needs a little TLC and inspiration.

Lynn Dessert presents How to handle anger in the workplace posted at Elephants at Work. Lynn is another blogger I had the pleasure meeting when I lived in Rochester, NY, and will be hosting her first Leadership Development Carnival next month. Some good tips on how to keep your cool at work.

Mary Jo Asmus presents There is an “I” in Conflict posted at Mary Jo Asmus. While you at at Mary Jo’s blog, check out the results of the August Leadership Development Challange. Not than anyone is keeping score.

Wally Bock presents Theory X in Sheep’s Clothing posted at Three Star Leadership, saying “Artificial fun at work programs are the latest manifestation of DouglasMcGregor’s famous theory. The bad one.” Thanks, Wally, you were right, this one did indeed warm my heart.

Aisle Two: Paper Supplies:

Tanmay Vora presents Change: From Vision to Execution posted at QAspire. “Leaders establish a lofty vision for a large scale change initiative and then strategize to align the team. Sometimes, the team gets over-excited by this grand vision and get stuck. They cannot define a strategy or a plan of action that takes them closer to that grand vision.” Agree!

Bret L. Simmons presents Five Beliefs Employees Hold About Leaders That Cause Silence posted at Bret L. Simmons. Interesting research from Dr. Bret on why employees don’t speak up – required reading assignment for leaders.

Anna Farmery presents The Confused Employee posted at The Engaging Brand. Are you confusing your team? Find out.

Gwyn Teatro presents Six Ways To Make Collaboration Work posted at You’re Not the Boss of Me. Check out the cute Pixar film at the end.

Kevin Eikenberry presents Five Leadership Milestones to Set and Reach posted at Leadership and Learning with Kevin Eikenberry, saying, “This post outlines five leadership milestones to set, reach, and celebrate. Where are you on your leadership journey? Where would you like to be?” Good questions, Kevin – Thanks!

Aisle Three: Backpacks:

Guy Harris presents One Way to Head Off a Conflict: Manage Expectations posted at Guy Harris: The Recovering Engineer, saying, “As leaders, we can decrease the emotional reaction people may have in uncomfortable situations by giving them information and clarifying expectations.” Love the name of this blog.

Jesse Lyn Stoner presents Five Easy Ways To Tell If An Organization Is Really Values-Driven posted at Jesse lyn Stoner Blog, saying, “Lots of organizations claim they are values-driven. Not all use values to guide decisions and behaviors on a daily basis company-wide. Here are 5 easy ways to tell is an organization is really values-driven.” I like easy ways – thanks, Jesse. Lot’s of good comments on this one too.

Mike Henry Sr. presents 10 Management Lessons from Harry Potter posted at Lead Change Group Blog, saying, “Post by Leigh Steere of Managing People Better about the lessons she learned from the Harry Potter series.” Mike runs one of the best leadership LinkedIn groups out there and never fails to submit a great post to the Carnival.

Miki presents Entrepreneur: Solving People Problems posted at MAPping Company Success, saying, “Although this post is focused on entrepreneurs, it applies to anyone who believes that welding a group of individuals into a powerful team requires them to only be leaders and not managers.” Read all about tool, fools and lost souls.

Guy Farmer presents Leadership Is Not Touchy-Feely posted at Unconventional Training. “What will you do to make your workplace more touchy-feely?”

Aisle Four: Electronics:

Art Petty presents Leadership Caffeine: Fun at the Cousin’s Reunion with Luck, Hope and Hard Work posted at Management Excellence. More great stuff from Art, perhaps inspired by his own recent family reunion?

Eric Pennington presents The Idea and Reality of Self-Employment posted at Epic Living – Leadership Development Career Management Training Executive Life Coaching Author. Eric gives you an intimate look at his own experience with entrepreneurism and its impact.

Jane Perdue presents 10 Rules for Saying ‘I’ posted at Get Your Leadership BIG On!. Great rules to live by – thanks, Jane!

Sharlyn Lauby presents Get Buy-In When Creating Change posted at hr bartender, saying, “It might seem like a big waste of time but getting buy-in is an essential part of the change process.” Great answer to a reader’s question  – couldn’t agree more!

David Burkus presents Is GSK taking the Sales out of Sales Rep? posted at LeaderLab, saying, “Is GSK taking the sales out of Sales Representative?””

Aisle Five: Snacks:

Michael Cardus presents Evidence; Unicorns; Bullshit: 3 Areas Of Team Building and Leadership Effectiveness posted at Create-Learning Team Building & Leadership Blog, saying, “Within the team building and managerial leadership world there is so much information and Jargon Monoxide that everyone feels overwhelmed. The challenge is determining what works within organizations is complex. Beliefs, false ideas, reinforced negative theories of work, personal fallacies about competence, improper systems in place for promotions, onboarding and hiring.”

Nick McCormick presents Managers, Who Would You Re-hire? posted at Joe and Wanda – on Management, saying, “Kevin Oakes is our guest for this Management Tips podcast. Kevin is CEO of i4cp. He also just published a book called, The Executive Guide to Integrated Talent Management. Kevin advises managers to do an audit of their direct reports to see if they’d be eligible for re-hire. Listen in to find out more.”

Alicia Arnold presents Meetings…How many people does it take to solve a problem? posted at Daily Creativity.

Heather Stagl presents Behind the Mask of Resistance posted at Enclaria LLC.

Jim Taggart presents Are Your Paws Sticky? Leadership Lessons from a Lab posted at ChangingWinds, saying, “Think about work situations where management broke the trust. What took months – years – to build was destroyed in a matter of minutes. It may have been a reorg, downsizing, merger, change of policy. Whatever. It doesn’t matter the reason. The point is that employees – PEOPLE – were hurt, or there was perceived hurt.” OK, any posts about labs are automatically included.

Aisle Six: Textbooks:

Linda Fisher Thornton presents Ethical Grey Areas: Our Choices Define Us posted at Leading in Context LLC.

Jonathan Milligan presents 4 Tips on How to Improve Communication Tools posted at Simple Life Habits, saying, “One of the biggest challenges for an influential leader is communication. here are 4 ways to improve your communication skills.”

Robyn McLeod presents Eating peas and other lessons in change posted at The Thoughtful Leaders Blog.

S. Chris Edmonds presents Power, Profit, or Purpose: What Drives Your Company? posted at Driving Results Through Culture, saying, “I pose somewhat provocative questions about whether your company is power driven, profit driven, or purpose driven.”

Image credit: Great Leadership

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

It’s the first Monday of the month and that means lots of great links to leadership information courtesy of the monthly Leadership Development Carnival, hosted this month by Mary Jo Asmus along with Becky Robinson’s Leadership Roundup.

October Leadership Development Carnival: Autumn Fun Edition

Cheer for your favorite players from the Big Ten:

Our regular referee for the carnival positions himself in the backfield today, but will return for the next game in November. Dan McCarthy of Great Leadership announces a penalty in Individual Development Plans are Worthless….if No Action is Taken.

Steve Roesler at All Things Workplace plays defense to those who think there isn’t a place for emotions in the workplace with Emotions, Work and Engaged Employees.

Jane Perdue of Get Your Leadership Big On! is on Steve’s team as she carries the ball toward the goal line with Do Feelings Have a Place in Business?

Becky Robinson at LeaderTalk inspires us with a rarely seen drop kick in Measuring Results. She deserves a game ball for this beautiful play.

Wally Bock at the Three Star Leadership Blog teaches us that We’ve got Leaders. What We Need is Leadership. Thanks for the wisdom, coach!

Bret Simmons takes us into sudden death overtime as we reflect on the importance of self management in leaders: Prudence: An Undervalued Virtue of Leadership.

Tanveer Nasseer helps leaders’ to protect their blind side with tips on how to ease someone back into the team after an absence in Helping Employees Regain Their Productivity After A Prolonged Absence .

Gwyn Teatro of You’re Not The Boss of Me plays quarterback as she leads discussion of the next play in the huddle with Managing and Leading….Lessons from Gilbert and Sullivan .

Mark Stelzner of Inflexion Advisors reflects on a winning organizational team that made it to the Workplace Super Bowl in The Best Company I’ve Ever Worked For .

Jennifer Miller of The People Equation scores a touchdown by showing us research that dispels a multitasking fantasy in Great Leaders Don’t Multitask. Your fans are cheering you on, Jennifer!

Take a fall color tour:

Jason Seiden of Fail Spectacularly! provides a colorful dialog of how magical our world is and what curiosity can do to foster creativity in Science Discovers Couples Share 6^th Sense.

Miki Saxon of MAPping Company Success reminds us that managers need to mind their unconscious reactions in order to have creativity flourish in its splendor in Fostering Creativity.

Bret Simmons at LeaderLab takes us beyond the blue sky of servant leadership and gives it strong roots by describing research and practical tips for embedding its practice in Servant Leadership in the Workplace.

Steve Boese of Steve Boese’s HR Technology shows how quickly small acorns can grow into the mighty oaks of an ‘A’ Team in Quick – Send in the ‘B’ Team

Michael Lee Stallard entices us to take a break on our tour…er, journey…. and ponder The Pride Paradox.

Thomas Waterhouse on the Lead Change Group blog discusses the many facets and colors of trust in A Trusting Character.

Sylvia Lafair takes us on a tour of boss-bashing, showing us the many shades of how it becomes nasty and public in Bad Boss Revolution.

Paul Knudstrup, of The 8 Essential Skills is driving on tour right behind Sylvia with a nod toward managers who are doing the right things in Employers and Employees.

Kevin Grossman at the Glowan Consulting Group helps us to consider the changing nature of what it takes to make it in the workforce these days in Adaptability, Inc. is hiring. I wish I would have told him that.

Nick McCormick at Joe and Wanda on Management provides us with an auditory bit of fresh autumn air with an interview on Managing Your Boss with Bob Seldon.

Enjoy the Autumn Harvest:

Barry Zweibel at GottaGettaBLOG! harvests some disengagement statistics in A Manager’s Focus Matters.

Benjamin McCall’s thoughts bear fruit at ReThinkHR on Employees Only Have So Much Power.

Tom Magness at Leader Business separates the wheat from the chaff in describing what it really means to be Leading in Chaos.

Michael Cardus at Create Learning cultivates some thought with Goal Setting: Solving Problems in Line with Values and Commitment.

Chris Stowell at the Center for Management and Organization Effectiveness finds fertile ground on Scorecards: Putting for Dough .

Jesse Meijers sows seeds of thought with Intrinsic Motivation vs. Extrinsic Motivation .

Rajesh Setty ‘s ideas flower on Why MANY Smart People Face a Mid-Career Dilemma and How You Can Avoid It.

Lynn Dessert plants some thoughts about leadership development at Elephants at Work on Is Your Organization Teaching the Right Lessons to Build Executive Talent?

Laura Schroeder at Working Girl clears the ground for a comparison between our workplaces and a popular TV show in The Gleeful Workplace.

Gayathri Moosad picks 20 Essential Leadership Skills for us to consider.

September Round-Up: A Leader Achieves Result

First, this post from Wally Bock that asks the questions “Should leaders be humble or flamboyant? Or should they just make a difference?” I love the conclusions he draws. Be sure to read this one as well, just published this week.

Miki Saxon offers some ideas about how to win in her post “Ducks in a Row: How to Guarantee a Winning Team.”

Bret Simmons, posting at the LeaderLab blog, asserts that empowered leaders enable empowered employees, creating solutions to workplace issues.

Leaders need to be consistent to get results. You’ll be inspired to be consistent when you read this post from Art Petty.

Dan Rockwell says leaders can multiply results by delegating. Read more here.

If you want to achieve results, you need to start with the right attitude, according to Kevin Eikenberry. Read his post “Developing the Right Attitude to Support Goal Achievement.”

The last post comes from Mike Myatt, who challenges leaders to focus on performance.

Image credit: Great Leadership

Dan McCarthy is this month’s host and he has set the carnival to an NFL theme in honor of the start of football season. (Damn! This year is passing at light speed!) He also explains a special NFL promotion that could put you at the Super Bowl next year.

BTW, The United Way and the NFL are teaming up for the first Back to Football Friday, a celebration of the start of the NFL season and an effort to promote youth health and wellness on Friday, September 10. They are encouraging fans of all ages to show their NFL team pride at work or with their friends by wearing their favorite team’s gear or colors and planning parties, and to join the United Way and NFL’s campaign to end childhood obesity. Anyone who registers is eligible to win a trip for two to Super Bowl XLV. One winning workplace will receive a visit from an NFL player at an NFL-hosted office party. Find out how to get involved here: www.LiveUnited.org/backtofootball.

So grab a beer and some chips, or whatever floats your boat, and enjoy our big game.

The tailgate party:

We’ll start this month’s edition with a little warm-up in the parking lot.

Erin Schreyer and Mike Henry team up to give us some spicy grub with What Really Makes You a Leader? posted at Lead Change Group. Seems like everyone has an opinion on this one, with over 70 comments.

David Burkus gives us a bucket of my favorite food, with My Buffalo Wild Wings Rant posted at LeaderLab.

Jason Seiden brought the paper plates and napkins, with Life Is Messy posted at Fail Spectacularly!.

Who brought the beer? None other than Sharlyn Lauby, with The Business Case for Managing Ourselves posted at HR Bartender,

and Mark Stelzner, with  Why Morons Win posted at Inflexion Point.

Kick-off:

The game starts with a bang with lots of high scoring action! Here’s Jane Perdue, our HR Goddess, with Excellence ? 1; Perfectionism ? 0 posted at Get Your Leadership BIG On!.

First to score is Art Petty with Leadership Caffeine-Give Your People Room to Run posted at Management Excellence.

Kevin W. Grossman gets a sack with Influential Leadership Can Trump Gender Bias posted at Leaders. Better. Brighter.™ The Glowan Consulting Group L3 Blog.

Bret Simmons is penalized for unnecessary roughness with Remarkably Unprofessional Behavior | Bret L. Simmons – Positive Organizational Behavior posted at Bret L. Simmons – Positive Organizational Behavior.

Wally Bock gives some veteran advice to the rookies in the huddle, with Simple Leadership Basics posted at Three Star Leadership Blog.

The 2nd quarter:

Jennifer V. Miller starts the 2nd quarter with a trick play –  The Z Factor posted at The People Equation.

Jim Stroup counters with something from his playbook, with his review of “Good Boss, Bad Boss“, posted at Managing Leadership.

Mary Jo Asmus has some great coaching advice of her own, with On Being a Coach, posted at Aspire-CS.

Bill Matthies does a little end-zone celebration with Let The Good Times Roll (But Plan For The Bad) posted at Business Wisdom: Words to Manage By.

To close the half, Alice Snell puts it through the uprights for three points with Hardwiring Performance posted at Taleo Blog – Talent Management Solutions.

Halftime entertainment:

We’ve got a great musical line-up for your halftime entertainment! Miki Saxon starts it off with a couple hits from her latest album, Ducks in a Row, with Triple A Culture is One of the Worst, and Don’t be Pizzled, Build a RAT Culture, at MAPping Company Success. What the heck is “pizzled”? You’ll have to read the post to find out.

Anne Perschel brings out her amazing leaping leadership frogs, with  Leadership Leap Frog – How to Keep on Learning posted at Germane Insights.

Glain Roberts-McCabe brings back a classic band with Leadership Lessons from Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage a rockin’ focus on goals | RoundtableTalk posted at RoundtableTalk.

Adi Gaskell gets the crowd fired up with 7 ways to schmooze your way to the top posted at The Management Blog.

David Zinger closes out the entertainment with Employee Engagement, Self-Efficacy and Albert Bandura posted at David Zinger Employee Engagement.

The Third Quarter:

Bengamin McCall starts off the second half with an onside kick, with Your Title is Boss, not Jerk, posted at REThink HR.

Nissim Ziv recovers a fumble with How would you Describe Your Leadership Style? posted at Job Interview & Career Guide.

Kris Routch breaks a long run with Leadership Lessons from a 16-Year-Old, posted at DDI’s Talent Management Intelligence blog.

Nick McCormick is up in the booth looking for answers, with Ask Yourself, “What Can I Do?” posted at Joe and Wanda on Management.

Andy Klein runs a draw play for big yardage with Organisational change needs leadership of employee creativity posted at Fortune Group Blog.

The Fourth Quarter:

This game is a nail-biter, so stay with us.

Michael Lee Stallard returns a punt for a big gain with Burnout Results From Living in Conflict with Values posted at Michael Lee Stallard.

Michael Cardus reminds us that there’s no “I” in “teamwork” with Leaders develop structure for teams posted at Create-Learning Team Building & Leadership Blog.

Mike King runs an all out blitz with Examining Your Own Belief Structure posted at Learn This.

Sylvia Lafair runs a creative play with Leadership, Creativity and Getting Unstuck posted at Sylvia Lafair – “Elegant Leadership”.

And right at the final gun, Chris Stowell runs it in for a score with Leadership Is Needed Now: Don’t Wait To Develop Your People posted at Leadership In Action.

The post game show:

Mike Miranda checks in on the NBA highlights, and gives us Lebron…meh…Gen Y has done Better! posted at Y the World Goes ‘Round.

Lois Melbourne reviews the highlights with Be an Accountable Leader and Get to Lunch First!

Kathy C does the locker room interviews with Preparing to Interview a Job Candidate posted at The Thriving Small Business.

Dallas Burrows breaks down the Xs and Os with What Exactly Is Management Theory? posted at Biz-gasm.

Elyse Nielsen presents the game ball with Searching for Healthcare IT Leadership – Uncovering Your IT Practices posted at Anticlue.

Bob Lieberman interviews the coaches and gives us Teaching Leadership Skills posted at Cultivating Creativity – Developing Leaders for the Creative Economy.

Have a wonderful and safe holiday!

It’s a new month and Dan McCarthy over at Great Leadership is hosting this month’s Leadership Development Carnival. The 36 posts are loaded with useful information and helpful ways to improve your skills.

Enjoy!

Over at The People Equation, Jennifer V. Miller advocates for “management by asking” in her post “Socrates Was On to Something”:

Wally Bock presents Once Upon a Time posted at Three Star Leadership Blog. ” Lots of things have changed since I started in business. But the most important thing has stayed the same.”

Learn how to get the most out of blogs, books, seminars and other resources, whether the subject is management, leadership or any other self-improvement effort, the process for using the information is the same. Miki Saxon presents How to Improve Your Management Skill at MAPping Company Success.

Managers can’t let fear rule their decision making – Sharlyn Lauby presents Handling Workplace Retaliation posted at HR Bartender.

Mary Jo Asmus presents 7 Ways to Enjoy Others at Work posted at Aspire-CS.

Jane Perdue presents A Lobby Display of True Leader Colors posted at Get Your Leadership BIG On!.

If you want to really understand your culture, take time to understand the underlying rules: spoken and unspoken. Steve Roesler presents Want to Influence? Know the Norms posted at All Things Workplace.

Mark Stelzner presents SHRM 2010: Observations & Conclusions posted at Inflexion Point.

Alice Snell presents Public Sector Hiring Reform posted at Taleo Blog – Talent Management Solutions.

Art Petty presents Leadership Caffeine: Prepare Your Mind to Conquer Presentation Anxiety posted at Management Excellence.

Kevin W. Grossman presents Valuing meaningful work always plays better to the bottom line. posted at HRmarketer.com Blog.

Nothing is more inspiring than a noble purpose. Do you see your work as a “job” or a mission? You will be surprised how easy it is to make your purpose special. Mike Henry Sr. presents Inspiring Purpose posted at Lead Change Group.

Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh has built an amazing culture. Most of us can learn a lot from what he did and how he did it. But there is one lesson we should NOT learn from Zappos. Anne Perschel presents What NOT to Learn from Zappos posted at Germane Insights.

Leaders make many decisions each day. What factors do you consider when making decisions? Becky Robinson presents Factors in Decision Making posted at Mountain State University LeaderTalk.

7 useful tips to take leadership repertoire to the next level: Utpal Vaishnav presents How To Caffeinate Your Leadership Repertoire? posted at Utpal Writes.

A fun post – a poem that links how we work with what we are seeing in the World Cup Football matches. David Zinger presents Working Zingers: Work as the World Cup posted at David Zinger Employee Engagement.

There is always friction between a unit and its higher headquarters, no matter the organization. In “Those Idiots Up At HQ,” Leader Business examines the firing of General McChrystal from a personal perspective. Tom Magness presents Those Idiots Up At HQ posted at Leader Business.

NY Times best selling author, Chuck Martin, shares his Management Tip, Play to your strengths, in this ten minute podcast. Nick McCormick presents Play to People?s Strengths posted at Joe and Wanda on Management.

With leadership development being defined and implemented differently from business to business, it is often difficult to find or create measurement around LDP programs. In this post I describe 7 approached to measure the leadership programs you create. Benjamin McCall presents Metrics of Leadership: 7 measurements for Leadership Development, at REThink HR.

This post links together England’s demise in the World Cup, Boris Groysberg’s new book on talent and performance, and whether what applies (may apply) in football / soccer applies in business too. Jon Ingham presents Chasing Stars and Socialism at Social Advantage.

Highlights an eye-opening study which finds that Talent Management systems are gender-biased and talk about what to do about it. Meg Bear presents Are your leadership competencies gender biased? posted at TalentedApps.

The ultimate motivations comes from knowing who we are and courageously acting upon that knowledge. What will you do in your “moment of truth”? Janna Rust presents Purposeful Leadership: Your Moment of Truth: What Will You Choose? posted at Purposeful Leadership.

Laura Schroeder presents Is Attrition a Key Component of Retention? posted at Working Girl.

Anna Farmery presents The Life Cycle of Thinking posted at The Engaging Brand.

Many managers don’t trust that their systems hire and keep people that will make good decisions. They “solve” this problem by giving staff no authority, which isn’t a solution. John Hunter presents Trust Your Staff to Make Decisions posted at Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog.

Research from i4cp/AMA reveal four key practices all companies should follow when developing global leaders. Erik Samdahl presents Four Key Practices for Developing Global Leaders posted at Productivity Blog.

Michael Lee Stallard presents The Need to Respect Legitimate Authority and One’s Colleagues posted at Michael Lee Stallard.

Nissim Ziv presents Problem Solving Interview posted at Job Interview & Career Guide.

There are lessons we can all learn from General Stanley McChrystal’s recent resignation. Sometimes choosing our words wisely is more important than sharing opinions. Kathy C presents Lessons Learned from General Stanley McChrystal posted at The Thriving Small Business.

Wise Bread presents Freedom From the Day Job posted at Wisebread.

This post speaks of reducing the clutter in Leadership and Learning & keeping things simple. Dominic Rajesh presents Clutter-free Learning and Leadership posted at Dom’s Blog ….

Bob Lieberman presents Gas! posted at Cultivating Creativity – Leadership Development for the Creative Economy.

Eliminating negative has a greater impact than accentuated positive. The challenge is to eliminate the negative in a way that does not create more negative. Michael Cardus presents Eliminating Negative to Increase Positive posted at Create-Learning Team Building & Leadership Blog.

Friso presents An introduction to Corporate Performance Management | Everyone can manage posted at Everyone can Manage.

This post talks about how to manage others successfully in a nonprofit setting. But it can be applied to any business. Mazarine presents Wild Woman Fundraising Advanced Fundraising: Managing Others posted at Wild Woman Fundraising.

Bauhinia Solutions presents The Benefits of Coaching posted at Bauhinia Solutions.

Image credit: Great Leadership

I was looking through my articles to see what I would offer you and I realized that I had five I wanted to share, but they didn’t fit into a nice, neat category. I decided I didn’t care that it was an illogical collection, it fits my mood and an irrational dose of spring fever I’m enjoying along with the weather.

First up is a little story to make you think. I write a lot about accountability; I read this years ago and forgot all about it until I saw it again in a post from Dan McCarthy. Share it as often as possible; it sinks in far faster than anything else I’ve found.

This is a story of four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.
There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it.
Everybody was sure Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody‘s job.
Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn‘t do it.
It ended that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

Anyone who follows this blog knows that brain research fascinates me and this one is no different. Seems that laughter isn’t about funny, it’s a form of communication.

Laughing is primal, our first way of communicating. Apes laugh. So do dogs and rats. Babies laugh long before they speak.

Every week or so I receive an invitation to join Facebook that I politely refuse, explaining that I don’t do anything except LinkedIn. Many times they write back and ask why, so I thought it would be faster to post a link than to write every time and explain that I’m a digital dinosaur who still believes in an old fashioned concept called privacy—which seems to be disappearing whether by hook, crook or glitch.

On Wednesday, users discovered a glitch that gave them access to supposedly private information in the accounts of their Facebook friends, like chat conversations.

This one may offend some of my readers, but you don’t have to click the link. Again, long time readers are probably aware that I am vehemently opposed to the teaching of “intelligent design” or any other faith-based content, so I found the idea of someone evangelizing evolution through rap brilliant.

For Baba Brinkman has taken Darwin’s exhortation seriously. He is a man on a mission to spread the word about evolution — how it works, what it means for our view of the world, and why it is something to be celebrated rather than feared. To this end, he has concocted a set of mini-lectures disguised as rap songs.

Finally, a superbly intelligent explanation that, for me, answers the question of why the health care bill brought forth so much strong negative emotion. What do you think?

To find a prototype for the overheated reaction to the health care bill, you have to look a year before Medicare, to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. But it was only the civil rights bill that made some Americans run off the rails. That’s because it was the one that signaled an inexorable and immutable change in the very identity of America, not just its governance.

Flickr photo credit to: pedroCarvalho on flickr

Dan McCarthy at Great Leadership is this months host; he says that the Carnival reminds him of an ice cream shop with 42 flavors. Right on Dan and best of all they’re good for you!

So dig in folks, this is one time you can really stuff yourself.

Chris Young, the host of next month’s Carnival presents Team 360 Performance Feedback posted at Maximize Possibility Blog.

Mary Jo Asmus presents Stuck? Admit It and Ask For Help posted at Mary Jo Asmus.

Nick McCormick presents Thriving in the Midst of Accelerated Change posted at Joe and Wanda – on Management, saying, “In this 10 minute podcast David Utts, CEO of Executive Skillworks, talks about how managers need to get on the developmental journey of leadership in order to thrive in these times of accelerated change.”

Bret L. Simmons presents C.K. Prahalad: The Responsible Manager posted at Bret L. Simmons.

Alice Snell presents Performance and Fair Pay posted at Taleo Blog – Talent Management Solutions.

Becky Robinson presents Early Lessons About Teamwork posted at Mountain State University LeaderTalk.

Miki Saxon presesnts Ducks in a Row: How to Reduce Office Politics posted at Mapping Company Success, saying “Office politics is debilitating; it damages organizations and individuals and can sink the best laid plans. Here is what you can do to reduce and eventually eliminate politics in your organization, whether the whole company or a small team.”

Nagesh Belludi presents Learn from the Top Performers in Every Field [Skills for Success] posted at Right Attitudes » Ideas for Impact, saying, “The best way to educate yourself is by observing the top performers in every field and by identifying and applying their effectiveness techniques to your circumstances.”

Michael D. Haberman, SPHR presents Performance Evaluations: “The GREAT EVIL”? posted at HR Observations.

Rob Tucker presents Getting your team to take Ownership posted at Reading About Leading, saying, “Explores the real substance behind rapid leadership development.”

Janna Rust presents Time Management 101: Start with Reality posted at Purposeful Leadership.

Kathy C presents How Can Leadership Help with Work Life Balance? posted at The Thriving Small Business, saying, “For those of us who are in this for the long haul, understanding our role in setting the example for work life balance is an important aspect of leadership.”

Elyse Nielsen presents Designing The Will and the Skill to Change posted at Anticlue, saying, “As we look to adopt a new way of working we have to get people to commit on an emotional level and on an intellectual level.”

Laura Schroeder presents I’m a Hi-Po, He’s a Hi-Po, She’s a Hi-Po… posted at Compensation Cafe.

Jennifer Miller presents 4ways to Gain Team Input posted at The People Equation, saying ” Don’t let the “crickets” take over at your next team meeting. 4 ways to gain input during team meetings.”

David Burkus presents The Maxwell Fallacy posted at LeaderLab.

Utpal Vaishnav presents A Path-Goal Based Approach That May Take Your Project Leadership Repertoire To The Next Level posted at Utpal Vaishnav.

Anne Perschel presents Harvard Asked Why So Few Women CEOs? – Then published my answer posted at Germane Insights, saying, “Harvard Business published a list of best CEOs. As they wonder why there is only one woman who qualifies perhaps they should examine their criteria.”

Mike Henry Sr. presents Instigating a Leadership Revolution posted at Lead Change Group Blog, saying, “Members of the Lead Change Group published an ebook about the unique value of the group and their first un-conference, LeaderPalooza”

LisaRosendahl presents One Smart Cookie posted at Lisa Rosendahl.

Tanmay Vora presents Nine I’s and Great Leadership posted at QAspire – Quality, Management, Leadership & Life!, saying, “In a discussion with a budding manager, we touched upon some of the most important traits of a leader and amazingly all started with an “I”. This post touches upon nine things leaders do to deliver exceptional business results.”

William Matthies presents Progress: Getting To There posted at Business Wisdom: Words to Manage By, saying, “Leading includes establishing how much risk is expected/will be tolerated by the organization.”

Sharlyn Lauby presents Trust Is Not Blind Faith posted at hr bartender, saying, “Trust is an essential component of working relationships.”

Scott Eblin has been talking with high potential leaders who have spent a day shadowing senior executives. In this post, he recaps what the hi-po’s say are the five traits of their most admired leaders. Scott Eblin presents Five Traits of the Most Admired Leaders posted at Next Level Blog.

Eric Pennington presents Processed Leadership vs. Organic Leadership posted at Epic Living – Leadership Development Career Management Training Executive Life Coaching Author, saying, “The examination of two styles of leadership and how they impact leaders, and their organizations.”

Kevin Eikenberry presents Are Failure and Mistakes the Same Thing? posted at Leadership and Learning with Kevin Eikenberry.

Wally Bock presents The Myth of Perfect Productivity posted at Three Star Leadership Blog, saying, “For more than forty years I’ve read “research” about how much time people waste at work. Surely the researchers would be more productive studying something else.”

Jane Perdue presents Connecting and Caring posted at Life, Love & Leadership.

Art Petty presents Leadership Caffeine: For a Change, Look At What’s Working posted at Management Excellence.

Tom Glover presents Are You Deeply Read or Widely Read? posted at Reflection Leadership.

Meg Bear presents Are you using your org goals to channel innovation? posted at TalentedApps, saying, “Make sure you are providing useful organizational goals to help guide where innovation could be most useful.”

Tom Magness presents A Salute to a Striver posted at Leader Business, saying, “Just when we start feeling sorry for ourselves, when we think the deck is stacked against us, along comes someone like Tyki Nelworth, who inspires us to keep striving for excellence.”

Joshua Noerr presents Management Should Always Play Favorites posted at JoshuaNoerr.com – Blog, saying, “Why everything you have ever been taught about treating people fairly is wrong.”

Jason Reid presents How to manage people when you are sick posted at Sick With Success .com.

Stephen Warrilow presents How To Manage Change – Putting It All Together posted at Change Management – Practical Strategies For Success.

Aaron Dinsdale presents Steps On How To Welcome Your New Employees posted at Small Business Advice | Small Business Tips and Articles | Small Business Success Stories.

Thomas Lopez presents 50 Best Blogs for HR Wisdom posted at Career Overview.

Working girl presents Managers I Have Known – Part I posted at Working Girl.

David Zinger presents 14 Employee Engagement Lessons From 2 Boys and a Sewer posted at Employee Engagement Zingers, saying, “Lessons can be learned anywhere and at any age for management, leadership, and employee engagement.”

Nissim Ziv presents How to Retain Employees – Ways for Retaining Good Employees posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “It has become important for companies to think about how to retain employees. Retention of employees is quite important today, because good employees are getting poached almost every day today.”

Jason Seiden presents Compete vs. Support posted at Next Generation Talent Development, saying, “Not all team members are the same. Treat them as if they are and you’re all but guaranteed to mess at least one of them up.”

Erik Samdahl presents The Most Critical Succession Planning Practices posted at Productivity Blog.

Flickr photo credit to: Great Leadership