We’re halfway through the year, which makes it a good time to take a step back and objectively consider how well you are doing achieving your personal growth goals for 2017.

We, the authors of the following, all hope that the monthly Leadership Dev Carnival provides you with different perspectives, ideas approaches, and tools to move forward.

Here is July’s wisdom.

Anne Perschel of Germane Coaching and Consulting provided Leadership Manifesto – Why You Need One and How to Get Started. Anne writes, “Your leadership manifesto ensures you stay the course in challenging times and focus on what’s most important at all times.” Find Anne on Twitter at @bizshrink.

Beth Beutler of H.O.P.E. Unlimited provided Four Types of Virtual Assistance. Beth explains four different models of virtual assistant services and provides suggestions for finding a good VA fit. Find Beth on Twitter at @bethbeutler.

Bill Treasurer of Giant Leap Consulting provided How to Choose a Great Mentor. Bill recaps, “Having a good mentor can take you far in your leadership journey. Learn what traits to look for in a good mentor.” Find Bill on Twitter at @btreasurer.

Chris Edmonds of the Purposeful Culture Group contributed Culture Leadership Charge: Don’t Bump the Fishbowl. In this post, Chris introduces “three steps to serving, validating, and celebrating employees’ ideas and contributions every day.” Follow Chris on Twitter at @scedmonds.

Dan McCarthy of Great Leadership provided Leadership Tips from Mankind’s Best Friend, the Dog. Dan recaps, “This lighthearted guest post from Dr. Garry McDaniel gives us 7 leadership tips learned from mankind’s best friend, the dog!” Find Dan on Twitter at @greatleadership.

Dana Theus of InPower Coaching contributed How Long Should You Stay At Your Job?. Dana writes, “No matter how well matched you and your job are at first, every employer and every person reach a point where it’s time to reconsider or renegotiate you agreement in order to support your continued growth.” Find Dana on Twitter at @DanaTheus.

David Grossman of The Grossman Group shared The Four Fs of Feedback. David writes, “If you were to give yourself a grade for how effective you are at giving feedback, what grade would you choose? Many of the executives I work with are brutally honest and give themselves an F. Move from an F to an A with the Four Fs of Feedback” Discover David on Twitter at @thoughtpartner

Jane Perdue of The Jane Group provided How to develop deep diversity with 9 learning styles. Jane shares, “Insightful guest post from author and coach Kay Peterson that guides leaders in increasing diversity by leveraging nine ways that people learn. Processes shared give leaders and their entire team a model they can use to understand and appreciate everyone’s strengths and differences.” Find Jane on Twitter at @thehrgoddess.

Jesse Lyn Stoner of Seapoint Center provided How to Recognize a Leader. Jesse summarizes, “How do you recognize a leader? Hint: It’s not because of their title.” Find Jesse on Twitter at @jesselynstoner.

Jim Taggart of Changing Winds provided Leading in a Virtualized World: 10 Traits of a Cyber Leader. In the post, Jim explains, “To be a true Cyber Leader requires a strong and sustained commitment. Technology is proving to be a powerful enabler to bringing people together from around the globe. While Cyber Leadership brings with it exciting opportunities for personal growth, it’s also accompanied by certain challenges.” Find Jim on Twitter at @72keys.

Joel Garfinkle of the Career Advancement Blog submitted Four Solutions if You’re Feeling Overworked and Underappreciated at Work. Joel shares: “If you’re feeling overworked and underappreciated at work, you’re not alone. It’s easy to begin to feel bitter and resentment toward your job. But, there are things you can do to change how you feel.” Discover Joel on Twitter at @JoelGarfinkle.

John Hunter of Curious Cat submitted Technological Innovation and Management. John recaps: “Technological innovation brings great opportunity for improving results and our quality of life.  But transforming potential benefits into real results comes with many challenges.” Discover John on Twitter at @ajohnhunter.

Jon Mertz of Thin Difference submitted The Need for More Sadness, Less Anger. Jon shares, “Anger rises, stifling collaboration. We need more sadness and less anger. From our sadness, we renew our focus on fulfillment rather than happiness.” Discover Jon on Twitter at @thindifference.

Jon Verbeck of  Jon Verbeck contributed Business Owner Mistake: The Basic Profit Model is Not Leveraged Link:. In this post, Jon shared how slight improvements over many transactions can have a huge impact. Follow Jon on Twitter at @jonverbeck1.

Julie Winkle-Giulioni of Julie Winkle-Giulioni provided The FUEL that Propels Today’s Organizatons. Julie recaps, “In today’s business environment, only the most energized organizations and individuals will be prepared to power forward toward that ever-moving finish line. And the key to high quality results is high-quality FUEL (in the form of feedback, an understanding what’s most important, and a culture of experimentation and learning).” Find Julie on Twitter at @julie_wg.

Karin Hurt of  Let’s Grow Leaders contributed Before You Forget, Stop and Do This Immediately. In this post, Karin explored this question: “Who consistently takes the time to sweat the small stuff so you don’t have to?”. Follow Karin on Twitter at @letsgrowleaders.

Ken Downer of  Rapid Start Leadership contributed Leader Isolation: 6 Ways to Conquer Loneliness at the Top. Ken summarizes, “The challenges and responsibilities of leadership can sometimes leave us feeling isolated and lonely.  But leading well doesn’t mean you have to become a hermit.  In fact the opposite is true – the higher you rise, the more important your connections become.  These six approaches to getting connected can help you find friends while improving your effectiveness as a leader.” Follow Ken on Twitter at @rapidstartldr.

Linda Fisher Thornton of Leading in Context  shared 4 Connected Trends Shaping the Future of Leadership. Linda recaps: “The greatest challenge leaders face is keeping up as the bar continues to be raised. Adaptability is no longer just a competitive advantage. It’s an ethical imperative” Find Linda on Twitter at @leadingincontxt.

Marcella Bremer of Leadership and Change Magazine provided How Do I Relate to Others? . Marcella recaps, “Martin Buber states there are two different ways of being in the world: the I-it or I-thou way. I-it means that I am a person – but I see other people as objects or means to my ends. I-thou means that I see you as a person, too. You are equal and I acknowledge your humanity. These two ways profoundly influence how you relate to others and, thus, the results you achieve. How do you relate to others?” Find Marcella on Twitter at @marcellabremer.

Mary Jo Asmus of Aspire Collaborative Services, LLC provided How to avoid starring in your own drama. Mary Jo recaps, “Leaders often create their own drama, and then take the starring role. Here are some ways to avoid getting caught up in your own drama.” Find Mary Jo on Twitter at @mjasmus.

Miki Saxon of MAPping Company Success contributed Ducks in a Row: Educating For The Future. Miki writes, “There is a sad result from the current intense focus on STEM curriculum, with enterprise pushing its own short-term hiring agenda, and media hype that a tech career is the be-all and end-all. The real role education must play in a future of unimaginable careers that AI can’t do ends up being ignored.” Discover Miki on Twitter at @optionsanity.

Michael Lee Stallard of the Connection Culture Group contributed 3 Practices to Improve the Contributions of Your Core Employees. He writes, “Core employees comprise the majority of the workforce, yet are often overlooked. Here are three ways to engage the group that is critical to every organization’s success. ” Discover him on Twitter at @michaelstallard.

Neal Burgis of Burgis Successful Solutions submitted Leaders Encouraging Creative Risks. Neal recaps, “How can a leader experiment and foster risk taking?The idea is not to run out and take any risk. Think about how you want to take the risk you need on a small scale first. Test it out before taking a bigger leap with a bigger risk.” Find Neal on Twitter at @exec_solutions.

Paula Kiger of Big Green Pen provided A Late Cleanup. Paula recaps, “Making a decision to stop procrastinating on a long-overdue ‘cleanup’ ended up providing a physical and mental lift.” Find Paula on Twitter at @biggreenpen.

Randy Conley of Leading With Trust shared We Don’t Have a Crisis of Trust – We Have a Crisis of Untrustworthy Leaders. Randy writes, “The statistics on the state of trust in our world are dismal. Yet Randy Conley believes the core issue isn’t with trust itself, but with untrustworthy leaders of our organizations. In his post, We Don’t Have a Crisis of Trust – We Have a Crisis of Untrustworthy Leaders, Randy shares the four characteristics that define trustworthy leaders.” Find Randy on Twitter at @randyconley.

Robyn McLeod of Chatsworth Consulting submitted Your Strengths Can Hurt You. In this post, Robyn shares four easy tips to avoid having your strengths turn into derailers. Discover Robyn on Twitter at @thoughtfulldrs.

Shelley Row of Shelley Row provided Perfect is Over-Rated. In the post, Shelley encourages leaders to stop fixating on what’s wrong in order to really appreciate the fact that the majority of things that are right. Find Shelley on Twitter at @shelleyrow.

Susan Mazza of Random Acts of Leadership provided The Secret to Getting What You Want. Susan explains, “There’s a saying that, if you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there. The same applies in life and business. Knowing what you want, and how to get it, is the key to being in the driver’s seat of your life, your career, and your business.” Follow Susan on Twitter at @susanmazza.

Tanveer Naseer of Tanveer Naseer provided How Failure Taught Me To Become A Better Listener. Tanveer says this post is the story of one leader’s failure reveals a powerful lesson on the importance of effective listening to leadership success. Follow Tanveer on Twitter at @tanveernaseer.

Wally Bock of Three Star Leadership provided Lessons From My Father’s Reading Plan. Wally recaps, “You’ll get more from your summer reading if you have a plan. Here’s how my father did his.” Find Wally on Twitter at @wallybock.

New month, new Leadership Development Carnival.

Reproduced here for your edification and enjoyment. It’s good weekend reading.

Enjoy!

Anne Perschel of Germane Coaching and Consulting provided Create New Organization Hero Stories to Lead Change. Anne writes, “The organization hero stories you tell as you launch your change initiative will get people on your change bus. How you tell the story is as important as the story you create.” Find Anne on Twitter at @bizshrink.

Beth Beutler of H.O.P.E. Unlimited provided 5 Ways (Some) Multitasking Can be Good for You. Beth summarizes, “Multitasking is often frowned upon, but this post helps us sort out when it might be a good approach.” Find Beth on Twitter at @bethbeutler.

Bill Treasurer of Giant Leap Consulting provided How to Manage Your Boss. Bill recaps, “Leadership isn’t always about managing your direct reports. Sometimes you have to know how to ‘manage up.’ Managing your boss is an essential part of leadership.” Find Bill on Twitter at @btreasurer.

Chris Edmonds of the Purposeful Culture Group contributed Culture Leadership Charge: Validate Effort and Results. In this post, Chris reminds us to validate the efforts of others, not just the results they get. Follow Chris on Twitter at @scedmonds.

Dan McCarthy of Great Leadership provided How to Prevent Redundant Performance Improvement Conversations. Dan recaps, “In this guest post, Karin Hurt explores the fact that performance improvement conversations aren’t enjoyable — for you or for them. ‘To make sure you don’t have to have the same uncomfortable conversation twice, take a hard look at this approach.’” Find Dan on Twitter at @greatleadership and Karin at @letsgrowleaders.

Dana Theus of InPower Coaching contributed How to Run a Meeting When You’re Not in Charge. Dana writes, “Running a meeting with your boss and her peers puts you in a tough spot. You’re being expected to ‘manage’ people superior to you. You can’t rely on your technical expertise because you’re expected to manage the interpersonal dynamics of the meeting as well, which is hard even when dealing with peers and subordinates.” Find Dana on Twitter at @DanaTheus.

David Grossman of The Grossman Group shared Leadership Communication Principles That Work. David writes, “I’m continually asked for the most important leadership communication principles. While what’s effective will vary based on the person or situation, these six tried-and-true fundamentals will make the difference between simply sharing information and communication that moves people to action (and that they feel great about).” Discover David on Twitter at @thoughtpartner

Diane Bock of Development Dimensions International (DDI) shared How to Work with People Who Aren’t You. Diane writes, “Diversity is good for business. But it doesn’t mean you will automatically have positive relationships with colleagues who are different.” Discover Diane on Twitter at @DDIWorld

Eileen McDargh of The Resiliency Group provided Five Secrets to Creative Adaptability. Eileen recaps, “In the face of continuing economic challenges, a roller coaster marketplace, Congressional stalemates, and unrelenting change, leaders in every part of an organization must develop a capacity for resiliency. A cornerstone of resiliency is adaptability. Mind you, this is not the ordinary find-another-answer but rather find MANY answers.” Find Eileen on Twitter at @macdarling.

Jesse Lyn Stoner of Seapoint Center provided How the Benefits of Team Vision Can Revitalize Your Team. Jesse summarizes, “Has your team gotten caught in ‘team drift’? Here are eight benefits of team vision and how it helps revitalize your team.” Find Jesse on Twitter at @jesselynstoner.

Jill Malleck of Epiphany at Work submitted Use Memory to Boost Self-Confidence. Jill recaps: “Confidence is different than a ‘know-it-all’ attitude: It’s more about feeling strong in your abilities. In every workplace, it’s not just about what you know that demonstrates leadership –  it’s how confidently you lead when you don’t know.” Discover Jill on Twitter at @EpiphanyAtWork.

Jim Taggart of Changing Winds provided Why Integrity Matters to Leadership. In the post, Jim explains, “New leadership approaches are needed in a globalized world. It’s about collaboration through worker self-empowerment, where calculated risk-taking is a daily endeavour and individual and collective learning is nurtured and valued.” Find Jim on Twitter at @72keys.

Joel Garfinkle of the Career Advancement Blog submitted The 4 Most Powerful Leadership Words You Can Use. Joel shares: “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. Being selective in how you speak to others often determines your level of leadership. Here are four of the most powerful leadership words you can use.” Discover Joel on Twitter at @JoelGarfinkle.

John Hunter of Curious Cat submitted Improving Management with Tools and Knowledge. John recaps: “The effective integration of the principles and the tools is what separates the remarkable companies we respect (and maybe envy) from all the others that are having some success but that are also struggling in many ways.” Discover John on Twitter at @CuriousCat_Com.

Jon Mertz of Thin Difference submitted Jeff Bezos: How to Avoid Day 2. Jon shares, “This post is addresses how a leader’s approach to decision making can determine an organization’s success or failure. Too many of us get stuck in what Jeff Bezos calls a ‘Day 2 mindset.’ Here’s how to avoid that trap and make all of our decisions like it’s day 1.” Discover Jon on Twitter at @thindifference.

Jon Verbeck of  Jon Verbeck contributed Business Owner Mistakes: No Timely Review of the Numbers. In this post, Jon reminds us that no matter the size of our business, we need to look at our numbers regularly. Follow Jon on Twitter at @jonverbeck1.

Julie Winkle-Giulioni of Julie Winkle-Giulioni provided Career Development Begins with CARE. Julie recaps, “In this short animated video, Julie explores the fundamental building blocks of career development and offers a framework for leaders committed to engaging in authentic sustainable development with others.” Find Julie on Twitter at @julie_wg.

Linda Fisher Thornton of Leading in Context  shared 9 Ethical Roles: Is Your leadership Team “All In?”. Linda recaps: “Ethical roles apply not just to CEOs, but also to all senior leaders in an organization. And if front line leaders don’t carry these roles throughout the organization, there will be gaps in the culture. We should prepare leaders to take on these 9 important roles, to help them be ‘All In’ in the quest for ethical culture building.” Find Linda on Twitter at @leadingincontxt.

Lisa Kohn of Chatsworth Consulting submitted How Have You Moved Past Fear With Understanding?. In this post, Lisa shares how moving past your fears into more understanding can help you be the best leader you can be. Discover Lisa on Twitter at @thoughtfulldrs.

Marcella Bremer of Leadership and Change Magazine provided What Do You Love to Do?. Marcella recaps, “What you love to do contains your gift to the world regardless of your role. Many were taught that it’s selfish to pursue what we love. Thus, we set aside what makes us unique. While when we love what we do, we are at our best and make a difference. Withholding who we are becomes the selfish act. What do you think?” Find Marcella on Twitter at @marcellabremer.

Mary Ila Ward of Horizon Point Consulting provided A Culture Where Nothing Is Ever Good Enough and How to Fix It: An Interview with Rajeev Behera CEO of Reflektive. Mary Ila recaps, “One in four people say their jobs are the most stressful part of their lives. What is creating stress in the workplace and how can it be resolved? In this post Mary Ila interviews Rajeev Behera, CEO of Reflektive, to determine the key factors that create a fear-based work culture and how it can be changed.” Find Mary on Twitter at @maryilaward.

Mary Jo Asmus of Aspire Collaborative Services, LLC provided Reconnecting With Happiness. Mary Jo recaps, “Happy leaders make a difference! Don’t let your happiness slip away; examine your life and make decisions about what will help you get back to what matters.” Find Mary Jo on Twitter at @mjasmus.

Miki Saxon of MAPping Company Success contributed If The Shoe Fits: No Such Thing As “Self-Made”. Miki writes, “Everybody loves stories about self-made people; the ones who have climbed from nothing to the top. The stories may be fun to read, but in reality there is no such thing as ‘self-made’. Just ask Arnold Schwarzenegger.” Discover Miki on Twitter at @optionsanity.

Neal Burgis of Burgis Successful Solutions submitted It’s All About Finding People Smarter than You. Neal recaps, “Leaders know that hiring people smarter than themselves makes good leadership sense when you have great ideas and need others to create and produce breakthrough results. You shouldn’t be the smartest person in the room – yet you should hire the smartest people in the room.” Find Neal on Twitter at @exec_solutions.

Paula Kiger of Big Green Pen provided Gambling on Leadership. Paula recaps, “Is it true that people behave in leadership simulations the way they will in reality? Lessons from a ‘reality’ show.” Find Paula on Twitter at @biggreenpen.

Randy Conley of Leading With Trust shared 10 Ways to Tell If Your Boss is Trustworthy. Randy writes, “Everyone deserves to work for a trustworthy boss. Unfortunately, that seems to be the exception rather than the norm in today’s business world. This post shares ten ways you can tell if your boss is trustworthy. Be sure to take the poll to see how your boss compares with others.” Find Randy on Twitter at @randyconley.

Shelley Row of Shelley Row provided Three Steps to Resource Yourself to be Calm Instead of Testy. In the post, Shelley asks, “Do you ever feel irritated when you know you will be meeting with that person who rubs you the wrong way?” and gives us tips for being prepared to stay calm. Find Shelley on Twitter at @shelleyrow.

Susan Mazza of Random Acts of Leadership provided A Simple Way to Rise to Your Next Level of Leadership. Susan explains, “You cannot grow to the next level of leadership by reading books, taking a class, or simply thinking about getting there. You must actually take action in real life — and your everyday experiences offer clues that show you how to reach for it.” Follow Susan on Twitter at @susanmazza.

Tanveer Naseer of Tanveer Naseer provided What Happened To Trust And Integrity In Today’s Organizations?. Tanveer explains, “Trust and integrity seem to be in decline in many organizations today. Here’s a revealing look at why they remain critical to organizational success.” Follow Tanveer on Twitter at @tanveernaseer.

Wally Bock of Three Star Leadership provided Leadership Balance. Wally recaps, “Dynamic balance, the balance of the athlete or the dancer, lets you engage in purposeful motion and change direction quickly.” Find Wally on Twitter at @wallybock.

I’m late posting this, but, as with anything of value, better late than never.

This month’s Carnival offers insights, how-to’s, direction, and support — all just a click away.

What are you waiting for? Start clicking.

Anne Perschel of Germane Coaching and Consulting provided 8 Steps to Avoid Flipping Your Lid in Challenging Leadership Situations. Anne writes, “You’re flipping your lid because you and all other human beings are designed to do exactly that. Find out why we flip. Then discover 8 steps that will keep your lid un-flippped.” Find Anne on Twitter at @bizshrink.

Beth Beutler of H.O.P.E. Unlimited provided Make Appointments With Yourself. In the post, Beth provides a 2-minute HOPE Hint about the value of making appointments with yourself. Find Beth on Twitter at @bethbeutler.

Bill Treasurer of Giant Leap Consulting provided 5 Strategies to Address Conflict as a Manager. Bill recaps, “Conflict is inevitable, and part of being a leader is dealing with this conflict. If dealt with correctly, conflict can be an impetus for change. Here are five techniques to effectively deal with conflict.” Find Bill on Twitter at @btreasurer.

Chris Edmonds of the Purposeful Culture Group contributed Culture Leadership Change: Drive Your Desired Culture. In this post, Chris gives pointers regarding how you, as a leader, can ensure you’re paying close enough attention to the quality of your team or company’s work culture. Follow Chris on Twitter at @scedmonds.

Christopher Avery of Christopher Avery and the Leadership Gift provided Relearning How to Want. Christopher summarizes, ” Freedom, power, and choice come to us when we pursue what we truly want. Unfortunately, most of us don’t know what we truly want. This post reveals how relearning how to want drives self-leadership, and how you can achieve it.” Find Christopher on Twitter at @christopheraver.

Cy Wakeman of Reality-Based Leadership contributed How to Deal with the Toughest Resistor on Your Team. In the post, Cy explains the principle behind this thought: “Nobody does anything we don’t agree to” as it applies to the  most difficult people on our teams. Find Cy on Twitter at @cywakeman.

Dan McCarthy of Great Leadership provided Improvisational Leadership: Use Improv to Avoid Leadership Pitfalls. Dan recaps, “In this guest post from Bob Kulhan, he describes a number of bad leadership characters and habits and how to use some simple improvisational techniques to help fix them.” Find Dan on Twitter at @greatleadership.

Dana Theus of InPower Coaching contributed 3 Things My Dog Reminded Me About Employee Performance and Employee Engagement. Dana writes, “Just like I had slipped into complacency with Mike and his last minute deadlines, and with Loki’s squirrel chasing, most of us slip into accepting low performance from employees until it’s too late. We write people off as “untrainable and uncoachable” when it’s really we who need to learn how to train and coach.” Find Dana on Twitter at @DanaTheus.

David Grossman of The Grossman Group shared Kick Email to the Curb Over Spring Break. David writes, “Why don’t we not leave email at the office when we’re on vacation? Because it’s hard. But the more we set up our teams and colleagues to be successful without us, the better we become, our colleagues become empowered, and we’re able to get some necessary R&R. Get tips and strategies today to help your next vacation be email free.” Discover David on Twitter at @thoughtpartner

Eileen McDargh of The Resiliency Group provided Three-Letter Leaders Create Clarity. Eileen recaps, ” In the age of 140 character tweets and 12-minute Ted talks, much can be gained by considering what three-letter titles can do to clarify roles and responsibilities. Everyone knows the roles and responsibilities for a CEO, CFO and CTO but change the wording and a different picture emerges. Imagine, for example, a CEO tasked as the Chief Engagement Officer.” Find Eileen on Twitter at @macdarling.

Jim Taggart of Changing Winds provided “Call Me Nick!” Leadership in Running Shoes. Jim shares, “Top leaders need to connect regularly with the people who get the work done in their organizations. Putting on a pair of running shoes will keep you more nimble. Don’t believe it? Read about ‘Call me Nick’!” Find Jim on Twitter at @72keys.

Joel Garfinkle of the Career Advancement Blog submitted Six Team-Building Phrases Used by Great Leaders. Joel recaps: “To become a better leader, it’s essential to build team morale. You can achieve this by using these six team-building phrases.” Discover Joel on Twitter at @JoelGarfinkle.

Jon VerBeck of JonVerbeck.com submitted What’s the Score? . In his post, Jon takes the opportunity of spring (and the completion of March Madness) to suggest how you can know the score in your business. Discover Jon on Twitter at @jonverbeck1.

Julie Winkle-Giulioni of Julie Winkle-Giulioni provided 4 Raises That Fit Any Budget. Julie recaps, “Effective leaders understand that limits on external motivators don’t have to limit their ability to tap internal sources of employee motivation. This brief post and animated video demonstrate that while pay raises might be in short supply, there are always four ‘raises’ available to leaders… and they cost literally nothing.” Find Julie on Twitter at @julie_wg.

Karin Hurt of Let’s Grow Leaders contributed Four Questions to Keep Your Team Focused and Working on What Matters Most. In the post, Karin gives pointers about staying in tune with the MIT—the most important thing. Follow Karin on Twitter at @letsgrowleaders.

Linda Fisher Thornton of Leading in Context  shared “Great Leaders” Find Gold Within. Linda recaps: “Great leadership is often defined based on efficiency, effectiveness or profitability, but that’s no way to define a journey of character building and authenticity. There’s much more to the story that needs to be told.” Find Linda on Twitter at @leadingincontxt.

Lisa Kohn of Chatsworth Consulting submitted It’s One of the Hardest Things to Say But the Best Leaders Say It. In this post, Lisa shares three little words that can help you be the best leader you can be. Discover Lisa on Twitter at @thoughtfulldrs.

Marcella Bremer of Leadership and Change Magazine provided The Positive Mindset – to broaden your view. Marcella recaps, “In this blog post, I compare the conventional mental map and the positive mindset of possibilities. When you add the positive mindset you broaden your view and your repertory of responses. It is both/and rather than either/or. Highly recommended for all leaders: positive thinking and learning to see the positive potential of situations and people!” Find Marcella on Twitter at @marcellabremer.

Mary Ila Ward of Horizon Point Consulting provided 3 Tips for Successfully Onboarding New Hires. Mary recaps, “Whether you are a company of three or a company of 30,000, onboarding can make or break employee engagement and retention even before day one. Having an onboarding strategy that is executed well starts with a plan. In this post, Mary Ila shares 3 tips for leaders to successfully onboard new hires.” Find Mary on Twitter at @maryilaward.

Mary Jo Asmus of Aspire Collaborative Services, LLC provided When to Work With an Executive Coach. Mary Jo recaps, “Coaching takes time and energy. Consider this “Top Ten” list before committing to working with an executive coach.” Find Mary Jo on Twitter at @mjasmus.

Mike Hoban of Development Dimensions International (DDI) provided Could Siri Become Your Leadership Coach?. Mike recaps, “What if you had a personal advisor that could help you be a better leader? An advisor with great listening skills, who knows you extremely well and is available 24/7? But here’s the catch: that resource would be a machine.” Find Mike on Twitter at @ddiworld.

Miki Saxon of MAPping Company Success contributed Psychological Manipulation: The Popular New Management Tool. Miki writes, “60 years ago companies were condemned for using psychological manipulation on their customers via ads.These days it’s an accepted practice to design your products and ads to be as addictive as possible. Now psychological manipulation has moved on to the management arena, with Uber leading the rush.” Discover Miki on Twitter at @optionsanity.

Molly Page of Thin Difference contributed The Power of 3 Simple Words. Molly summarizes, “It’s been said that we don’t only learn from good examples. Recently we’ve seen several public relation debacles play out in the news, these can serve as lessons for all of us about the power of 3 simple words..” Follow Thin Difference on Twitter at @thindifference and Molly at @mollypg.

Neal Burgis of Burgis Successful Solutions submitted Connecting Your Leadership with Your Employees. Neal recaps, “The connection leaders have with their employees has been found to increase productivity and performance. If you don’t have a connection with employees they won’t feel they own the work they produce. Therefore, they won’t put a lot of effort into doing work for you.” Find Neal on Twitter at @exec_solutions.

Paula Kiger of Big Green Pen provided Lessons on Centeredness from a Missing Cardboard Tube. Paula recaps, “There is so much talk about mindfulness and staying centered these days. One of the best analogies I found came from a rather mundane source.” Find Paula on Twitter at @biggreenpen.

Randy Conley of Leading With Trust shared 4 Ways to Get Your Followers to Know You as a REAL Person. Randy writes, “Research shows that many employees don’t see their leaders as real people; they form mental images of the leader based on limited interactions and random pieces of information. Using the acronym REAL, Randy Conley provides four ways leaders can develop authentic relationships with their employees that foster trust, loyalty, and engagement.” Find Randy on Twitter at @randyconley.

Shelley Row of Shelley Row provided Three Steps to True Consensus: It’s More Than Flip Charts and Colored Dots. In the post, Shelley shares what it means to develop true consensus on your team. You will better understand what consensus truly is. Find Shelley on Twitter at @shelleyrow.

Susan Mazza of Random Acts of Leadership provided 9 Ways a Leader Can Earn Trust. Susan explains, “When it comes to earning trust as a leader, your actions speak far more loudly than your words. Here are 9 actions you can take on a daily basis to actively earn the trust of those you lead and greatly increase your chances of being trusted with the things that really matter.” Follow Susan on Twitter at @susanmazza.

Wally Bock of Three Star Leadership provided Beware of These Three Leadership Traps. Wally recaps, “One reason leadership traps are so dangerous is that you set them for yourself.” Find Wally on Twitter at @wallybock.

Unbelievable. It’s already April and first quarter is over/done/gone/kaput.

That means it’s time to reconsider your 2017 to-do list in the light of reality and eliminate the ‘trys’ and hope to-s’ in favor of an honest evaluation of what you can really accomplish today, this week, this month, which, taken together, will add up to an excellent year.

And, to help you accomplish some of the work-focused things, here is this month’s carnival.

Anne Perschel of Germane Coaching and Consulting provided How Leaders Overcome Resistance – The Most Important Step. Anne writes, “While natural inclination is to choke the breath out of resistance, the real solution is counterintuitive and it’s the single most important thing you can do.” Find Anne on Twitter at @bizshrink.

Beth Beutler of H.O.P.E. Unlimited provided How to Write a Meaningful Thank You Note. Beth recaps, “Thank you notes are a lost art, but an important part of business success. Here is a formula for maximizing the impact of your thank you notes.” Find Beth on Twitter at @bethbeutler.

Chris Edmonds of the Purposeful Culture Group contributed Culture Leadership Charge: A Question of Character. In this post, Chris encourages leaders to remember that their character counts. Follow Chris on Twitter at @scedmonds.

Cy Wakeman of Reality-Based Leadership provided Redefining Accountability in the Workplace. In this post, Cy explains why accountability is a mindset, not a skillset. Find Cy on Twitter at @cywakeman.

Dan McCarthy of Great Leadership provided Were the Founding Fathers Great Leaders?. Dan recaps, “Were the Founding Fathers really the great leaders they are claimed to have been?  If so, What can we learn from them?” Gordon Leidner answers these questions in his guest post on Great Leadership!” Find Dan on Twitter at @greatleadership.

Dana Theus of InPower Coaching contributed a guest post by Jennifer V. Miller entitled The Business Case for Strategic Focus on Organizational Culture. Dana writes, “New research has identified that companies that build high-trust cultures experience stock market returns two to three times greater than the market average and turnover rates that are 50 percent lower than industry competitors.” Find Dana on Twitter at @DanaTheus and Jennifer at @jennifervmiller.

David Grossman of The Grossman Group shared How Much Time Do You Spend Communicating?. David writes, “Leaders are always communicating—even when they don’t realize they are. It’s fair to say that 80% to 90% of the average leader’s week is spent communicating. Yet, how much time is spent on planning communications for effectiveness? Discover tips on how to effectively plan your communications and how to distinguish communication from information.” Discover David on Twitter at @thoughtpartner

Jennifer McClure of Unbridled Talent provided Can Regular People Like You and Me Change the World? (Yes, We Can). Jennifer recaps, “We don’t need to get intimidated by how big or complex it may be to change our community, our organization, or our leadership in order to change the world. We just need to focus on the impact that we can have in the life of one person.” Find Jennifer on Twitter at @jennifermcclure.

Jesse Lyn Stoner of the Seapoint Center for Collaborative Leadership submitted 15 Things Leaders Can Manage (and One They Can’t). Jesse recaps, “There are many things leaders can (and should) manage. But ironically, the one thing many leaders think is the MOST important thing they’re supposed to manage is NOT on this list.” Follow Jesse on Twitter at @jesselynstoner.

Jill Malleck of Epiphany at Work contributed Manage Challenging Behaviours: The Devil’s Advocate. Jill shares, “Instead of using assessments to codify diversity in teams, leaders can learn how to notice and manage challenging workplace behaviours.” Find Jill on Twitter at @epiphanyatwork.

Jim Taggart of Changing Winds provided The Six Inner Leadership Selves. Jim shares, “Being a leader is not a one dimensional affair. There are many ways that each of us can practice leadership: at work, in our community, at home, or in an unexpected crisis situation. One thing’s clear: you don’t have to be in a management position to show leadership.” Find Jim on Twitter at @72keys.

Joel Garfinkle of the Career Advancement Blog submitted The 5 Smartest Strategies to Build Influence in the Workplace. Joel recaps: “Being a successful influencer requires building and fostering strong relationships. Follow these 5 strategies to build your influence in the workplace. ” Discover Joel on Twitter at @JoelGarfinkle.

John Hunter of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog shared The Degree of Interdependence. John summarizes, “Business is more interdependent than an orchestra, yet we often ignore the interdependence and seek to optimize components individually. That idea is a useful reminder that if we are not thinking about the end result of the system taken as a whole we risk optimizing component to the detriment of the whole.” Find John on Twitter at @curiouscat_com.

Jon Mertz of Thin Difference contributed Leadership Fails and Who Cares?. Jon summarizes, “What is it that isn’t working with our current leadership development strategies and why aren’t more people trying to figure out what is broken in our colleges, leadership programs, and culture? Here are a few things we can stop doing in hopes of developing better leaders.” Follow Jon on Twitter at @thindifference.

Jon VerBeck of JonVerbeck.com submitted Business Owner Mistakes: Not Keeping Company Books and Records Up-to-Date. In his post, Jon shares about the importance of keeping our financial records in order and up-to-date. Discover Jon on Twitter at @jonverbeck1.

Julie Winkle-Giulioni of Julie Winkle-Giulioni provided Who Knows What Employees Really Want?. Julie recaps, “Depending upon the study, article or thought leader one consults, there are countless different possible motivators and priorities that people bring to the workplace. How can a leader figure out which resonate for his/her employees?  It’s easy.  ASK.” Find Julie on Twitter at @julie_wg.

Karin Hurt of Let’s Grow Leaders contributed What the Best Managers Know About Disengaged Employees. In the post, Karin shares a story from her college experience that inspires the value of engaging your employees. Follow Karin on Twitter at @letsgrowleaders.

Linda Fisher Thornton of Leading in Context  shared Ethical Leadership: The “On Switch” For Adaptability Linda recaps: “Adaptability is a key challenge for leaders and organizations, and ethical leadership is a critical tool for ‘switching it on.’” Find Linda on Twitter at @leadingincontxt.

Lisa Kohn of Chatsworth Consulting submitted How Not to Get a Handful of Mud. Lisa summarizes, “This post is about how to get out of your own way and move through your fears in order to be the best leader you can be.” Discover Lisa on Twitter at @thoughtfulldrs.

Marcella Bremer of Leadership and Change Magazine provided What Goes Wrong in Your Organizational Culture?. Marcella recaps, “Learning to ‘see’ culture; group dynamics, beliefs, and behaviors is helpful. When you become aware you can contribute to developing a positive culture. There are four culture archetypes but each can turn into its shadow side. Your culture can be a permanent happy hour, a competitive sweatshop, a bureaucratic mould or creative chaos.” Find Marcella on Twitter at @marcellabremer.

Mary Jo Asmus of Aspire Collaborative Services, LLC provided The Counter-intuitive Mature of Slowing Down to Speed Up. Mary Jo recaps, “It sounds a little crazy that when a leader slows down, they can actually help things to speed up. Here are some things to consider as you do so.” Find Mary Jo on Twitter at @mjasmus.

Michael Lee Stallard of Connection Culture provided Beware the Brutally Honest Workplace. Michael recaps, “Honesty is an important element of healthy workplace cultures, but it must always be balanced with respect. This article explores the hidden dangers of ‘brutally honest’ workplaces and the type of communication that leaders should foster instead.” Find Michael on Twitter at @michaelstallard.

Miki Saxon of MAPping Company Success contributed Misogyny — Follow The Money. Miki writes, “There is a great deal of talk about the rampant misogyny in tech culture. Actually, it’s worse than in other fields, but it currently has a higher profile due to media coverage of complaints at Uber, Tesla, and several other high profile companies. 30 years ago tech was far more welcoming to women; what happened?” Discover Miki on Twitter at @optionsanity.

Neal Burgis of Burgis Successful Solutions submitted Leading with Courage and Confidence. Neal recaps, “Today leaders need to have the courage and confidence to take action on ideas that will move business forward to the next level of success. Having courage and confidence primarily means that as a leader you take responsibility for the decisions you make.” Find Neal on Twitter at @exec_solutions.

Paula Kiger of Big Green Pen provided Lessons from the Rice Chefs of Morimoto Asia. Paula recaps, “Little did I know the foundation of my fantastic evening dining experience had been laid early that morning, by people I would never see. It was an important lesson about quality and passion.” Find Paula on Twitter at @biggreenpen.

Randy Conley of Leading With Trust shared 4 Steps to Avoid a Leadership Meltdown Like Uber’s Travis Kalanik. Randy writes, “The recent missteps of Uber’s CEO, Travis Kalanik, is just the latest example of a highly visible leader experiencing a very public meltdown. We are all susceptible to having a leadership meltdown, and the way to prevent it is to develop our leadership from the inside-out. In this straight-forward article, Randy Conley outlines 4 steps leaders can take to develop their leadership philosophy and approach from the inside-out.” Find Randy on Twitter at @randyconley.

Shelley Row of Shelley Row submitted It’s Not Fair! Three Ways to Combat Unfairness. In her post, Shelley shares three important ways to combat unfairness in the workplace by explaining, challenging, listening and validating. Discover Shelley on Twitter at @shelleyrow.

Susan Mazza of Random Acts of Leadership provided What Is Your Leadership Style?. Susan explains, “As a leader, are you more of a Connector, Orchestrator, Trailblazer, Stategist, Team Champion – or a combination of several? My new quiz can help you discover your leadership strengths, and the report at the end provides a good overview of the five most common leadership styles.” Follow Susan on Twitter at @susanmazza.

Tanveer Naseer of Tanveer Naseer provided Forget Passion – What Employees Need Is Purpose-Led Work. Tanveer recaps, “Discover why it takes more than passion to inspire the very best in our employees and how the key is providing purpose-led work.” Find Tanveer on Twitter at @tanveernaseer.

Wally Bock of Three Star Leadership provided Create a Great Working Environment for Your Team. Wally recaps, “If you’re the boss, your challenge is to create a great working environment for your team. Here’s what a great working environment looks like.” Find Wally on Twitter at @wallybock.

Ryan should be back next week, but in the meantime you will find plenty of good stuff in this month’s Carnival. Enjoy!

Anne Perschel of Germane Coaching and Consulting provided Wise CEOs in New Roles Follow Two Important Rules. Anne asks, “What two rules do wise CEOS follow when they’re in new roles, and what are the benefits?” Find Anne on Twitter at @bizshrink.

Beth Beutler of H.O.P.E. Unlimited provided Three Ways to Have a Less Stressful Day. Beth recaps, “Beth Beutler gives us three practical tools for reducing stress in our days.” Find Beth on Twitter at @bethbeutler.

Bill Treasurer of Giant Leap Consulting provided Reality Bites for New Leaders. Bill recaps, “Your influence can help make a positive and lasting impact on people’s careers and lives. All it takes is making the most out of your leadership kick in the ass!” Find Bill on Twitter at @btreasurer.

Chris Edmonds of the Purposeful Culture Group contributed Culture Leadership Charge: Why Leaders Do What They Do. In this post, Chris explains three powerful influences over a leader’s behavior. Follow Chris on Twitter at @scedmonds.

Chery Gegelman of Giana Consulting contributed The Inspiring STANDS of a REAL Leader. In this post, Chery asks, “As a titled leader do have the courage to take stands for the business?  …Your people?  …Your family?  What would you give to work with someone that takes stands like these?” Follow Chery on Twitter at @gianaconsulting.

Christopher Avery of Christopher Avery and the Leadership Gift contributed How I Practice Responsibility. Christopher shares, “The Responsibility Process works only when self-applied. (If you have heard this before, and I hope you have, it is always worth revisiting.) What this means is that knowledge about The Responsibility Process doesn’t change me. Only applying The Responsibility Process to my life will produce results that matter.” Follow Chris on Twitter at @christopheraver.

Cory Rieken of the Development Dimensions International (DDI) contributed What Happens When Leaders Fail to Use Key Principles?. Cory shares, “A leader’s lack of empathy and ongoing performance conversations can lead to confusion and uncertainty among employees about where they stand. Learn about the key principles leaders can use to meet others’ personal needs to be respected and involved.” Follow Cory on Twitter at @ddiworld.

Dan McCarthy of Great Leadership provided Six Ways to Make Your Presentation a Hit. Dan recaps, “Scientists say our attention spans are now shorter than a goldfish, so it’s more important than ever for leaders to make our presentations as engaging and compelling as possible. How can we do that?  One way is by taking cues from the place that can still captivate us for hours at a time: the movies. See Ted Frank’s guest post to find out how.” Find Dan on Twitter at @greatleadership.

Dan Oestreich of Oestreich Associates provided On Not Waiting for Superman. Dan recaps, “Mythologist Michael Meade’s three layer model of human interaction provides a way to think about and act on our leadership in a time of change, conflict and controversy.  I use Meade’s model in my leadership consulting work because it ably defines the quest, common to human communities, to reach a shared sense of humanity and shared values such as love, justice and peaceful co-existence.” Find Dan on Twitter at @DanOestreich.

Dana Theus of InPower Coaching contributed The Upside of Office Politics. Dana writes, ” Unpleasant as it is, office politics gives us a special gift, which is to learn to stand up for our values and grapple with forces out of our control. After all “The Universe” .” Find Dana on Twitter at @DanaTheus.

David Dye of Trailblaze submitted 4 Questions to Ask Yourself and Your Team to Stay Focused on the Most Important Thing. David summarizes, “I’ve never met a manager who has enough time to do everything they want to do. The stress that comes with being ‘too busy’ is inescapable – or is it? David shares a mindset shift and questions you can use to keep your team focused, and busy-stress at bay.” Follow David on Twitter at @davidmdye.

David Grossman of The Grossman Group shared How To Create Line of Sight For Your Employees. David writes, “Statistics and sources show that employees overall don’t understand company strategy. Said another way, they don’t get how they fit in. And that’s a missed opportunity.” Discover David on Twitter at @thoughtpartner

Jesse Lyn Stoner of the Seapoint Center for Collaborative Leadership submitted Dialogue Bridges the Divide. Jesse recaps, “Since the US election, many people have experienced tension with a close friend or family member whose views are different than theirs. My own family is no exception, and I was having particular difficulty with a close family member.  My post explains why and how I reached across the divide and provides 4 guidelines that helped make it successful. Bottomline: It’s important and possible to begin reaching across the divide.” Follow Jesse on Twitter at @jesselynstoner.

Jill Malleck of Epiphany at Work contributed Widen Your Perspective-Take Puppy Breaks. Jill shares, “Taking a short break away from work every hour or so will increase your mood and your productivity.” Find Jill on Twitter at @epiphanyatwork.

Jim Taggart of Changing Winds provided Gandhi and Mandela Would be Proud: What’s Next after the Women’s March?. Jim shares, “In this post, I use Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi as prime examples of how to motivate and focus people towards a common vision using peaceful means. The context is the January 21st Women’s March which spanned some 500 U.S. cities and dozens of countries. The participation wasn’t just the amazing thing but that the marches were done peacefully. Vision and how people collectively contribute to it is critical to this movement’s future.” Find Jim on Twitter at @72keys.

Joel Garfinkle of the Career Advancement Blog submitted Strategies to Increase Your Influence at Work. Joel recaps: “Increasing others’ perception of you and your visibility at work are vital to your career success. The next step is to increase your influence at work. Follow these 3 strategies and watch your influence increase.” Discover Joel on Twitter at @JoelGarfinkle.

John Hunter of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog shared Why Do People Fail to Adopt Better Methods?. John summarizes, “Sometimes better methods will be adopted but often they won’t. People can be very attached to the way things have always been done. Or they can just be uncomfortable with the prospect of trying something new.” Find John on Twitter at @curiouscat_com.

Jon Mertz of Thin Difference contributed 7 Essential Guiding Principles. Jon asks, “Who is an Upstander? A person who chooses to take positive action in the face of injustice in society or in situations where individuals need assistance. Being an Upstander is a leadership model we must embrace and these 7 principles can help.” Follow Jon on Twitter at @thindifference.

Jon VerBeck of JonVerbeck.com submitted Business Owner Mistakes: Not Understanding Their Revenue Model and Current Sales Plan. As part of his series on mistakes business owners make, Jon shares about the importance of understanding your revenue model and sales plan. Discover Jon on Twitter at @jonverbeck1.

Julie Winkle-Giulioni of Julie Winkle-Giulioni provided Lessons in Stumbling and Set-Backs… from the Big Top. Julie recaps, “Since work frequently feels like a three-ring circus anyway, there are lessons to be learned from acrobats who know how to stumble and yet resiliently go on with the show.” Find Julie on Twitter at @julie_wg.

Karin Hurt of Let’s Grow Leaders contributed How Do I Get My Team to Trust Me?. In the post, Karin shares a personal story of trust with her team, and how it wasn’t so good at first. Follow Karin on Twitter at @letsgrowleaders.

Linda Fisher Thornton of Leading in Context  shared Leader Competence: Will it Be a Multiplier or a Divider? Linda recaps: “Leader competence is either going to be a multiplier or a divider. When you have it, you multiply performance and trust, with exponential results.” Find Linda on Twitter at @leadingincontxt.

Lisa Kohn of Chatsworth Consulting submitted Why Self-respect is a Key Leadership Skill. Lisa summarizes, “While we need to be open to feedback, we also need a confident foundation in our strengths and contributions so that we can learn from the feedback, rather than be pierced by it.” Discover Lisa on Twitter at @thoughtfulldrs.

Marcella Bremer of Leadership and Change Magazine provided What If We Embodied Positive Change?. Marcella recaps, “What did you do today that’s worth repeating? We must first change ourselves to create positive change in a situation. We tend to copy what we have seen, and that’s why cultures stay the same. Every act of positive leadership and kindness counts… What have you done today that you’d like others to do, too?” Find Marcella on Twitter at @marcellabremer.

Mary Ila Ward of Horizon Point Consulting contributed The Conundrum of Incentive Pay. She recaps, “Incentive compensation is tough.  It’s why many companies avoid it all together. Leaders often find themselves coming up with incentive plans they hope will work, only to come out with frustrating results and the intent didn’t drive the desired outcome. In this post, Mary Ila shares some things that stand in order to do incentive pay well.” Discover Mary Ila on Twitter at @maryilaward.

Mary Jo Asmus of Aspire Collaborative Services shared The Benefits of Having a Team of Equals. Mary Jo summarizes, “When you treat the members of your team as equally smart and capable as you are, you’ll realize what it’s like to make better decisions, have great trusting relationships and some bottom line results.” Follow Mary Jo on Twitter at @mjasmus.

Michael Lee Stallard of Connection Culture provided A Surprising Way to Reduce Mistakes and Accidents. Michael recaps, “In industries like healthcare where the cost of mistakes and accidents is high, it’s important to provide the support employees need to do their best work. Michael Lee Stallard explains how the “connection culture” elements of value and voice play an important role in improving performance.” Find Michael on Twitter at @michaelstallard.

Miki Saxon of MAPping Company Success contributed The Necessity of Fools. Miki writes, “There are many kinds of fools and while being a fool is something people work hard to avoid there is one kind of fool that should be your greatest aspiration.” Discover Miki on Twitter at @optionsanity.

Neal Burgis of Burgis Successful Solutions submitted Leading an Empowered Creative Organization. Neal recaps, “Leaders who empower employees to use their own creative thinking skills and talent help move the organization forward. In doing so, leaders trust employees to make decisions in solving problems, challenges and difficulties regarding the work they do. Working collaboratively yields greater results.” Find Neal on Twitter at @exec_solutions.

Randy Conley of Leading With Trust shared 3 Truths About Trust. Randy writes, “Virtually everyone agrees that trust is a vital ingredient for healthy and successful relationships and organizations, yet many don’t think about trust until the worse time – when it’s been broken. In this post, three fundamental truths about trust that every leader should consider.” Find Randy on Twitter at @randyconley.

Shelley Row of Shelley Row submitted Reap the Rewards of a Checklist: Two Easy Steps. Discussing the value of a checklist, Shelley writes, ” If doctors and pilots use them regularly, it may be a good idea for other business leaders too.” Discover Shelley on Twitter at @shelleyrow.

Simon Teague of New Level Results contributed A Business is a Reflection Of …. Simon recaps, “This post discusses productivity, combined with empowerment and engagement being at an all-time high in those organisations that are using more modern and innovative methods to recognise, reward and develop their people AND build their culture at all levels.” Find Simon on Twitter at @simonteague.

Susan Mazza of Random Acts of Leadership provided Why You Should Speak Less and Listen More. Susan explains, “When it comes to leadership, there are times when it is more effective to choose silence over speaking up with your words. Only when you are able to listen well enough and long enough for people to feel heard will underlying tension will be released, and a conversation about what’s wrong turn into a conversation about how to make things better.” Follow Susan on Twitter at @susanmazza.

February 2017 Leadership Development Carnival

You can always tell it’s the start of a new month, because that’s when I share the newest Carnival with you. Sometimes just the link, but more often, like today, the entire post.

There’s lots of good stuff to help you grow, whether you are a positional leader or leader in the instance.

Also a good reference when you are faced with a difficult situation or just need intelligent information quickly.

So, without further ado…

Beth Beutler of H.O.P.E. Unlimited provided How to Say No Graciously. Beth recaps, “Beth Beutler refreshes us on an important leadership skill—saying ‘no’ with grace.” Find Beth on Twitter at @bethbeutler.

Chris Edmonds of the Purposeful Culture Group contributed Culture Leadership Charge: Make Values as Important as Results. In this post, Chris charges leaders to elevate values to the same level of importance as performance results. Follow Chris on Twitter at @scedmonds.

Dan McCarthy of Great Leadership provided 6 Essential Characteristics for Leading Simplification. Dan recaps, “This guest post by Lisa Bodell explores the concept of “simplification” and the leadership characteristics required to succeed.” Find Dan on Twitter at @greatleadership.

Dana Theus of InPower Coaching contributed 5 Leadership Lessons From The Worst Bosses I’ve Ever Had. Dana writes, “I’ve had some pretty terrible bosses. In retrospect, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Not only did I learn a ton, but I began to claim my personal power by deciding I was done with being treated that way.” Find Dana on Twitter at @DanaTheus.

David Dye of Trailblaze submitted 9 Ways to Motivate Employees When You Don’t Set the Goals. David summarizes, “Whether you are a team leader, a mid-manager, or even the President, CEO, or Executive Director there will be times in your career where you are asked to meet goals that you did not speak into or, in some cases, even disagree with. David shares how you and your team can still thrive in these situations.” Follow David on Twitter at @davidmdye.

David Grossman of The Grossman Group shared What Great Teams are Made Of (It’s Not What You Might Expect). David writes, “Google was fascinated by the question of what makes for an effective work team, and recently studied hundreds of its own teams to determine why some performed better than others. They thought the answer would be the obvious – teams made up of the best and brightest people – but it wasn’t. The answer may surprise you…” Discover David on Twitter at @thoughtpartner

Jesse Lyn Stoner of the Seapoint Center shared Do team values unite your team or divide it?. Jesse Lyn recaps, “ Identifying team values are a great way to create team cohesion. But if it’s not done right, it can actually create discord, as this short story shows. This article also includes 6 questions to ensure your team values unite your team and create a foundation of trust.” Follow Jesse Lyn on Twitter at @JesseLynStoner.

Jill Malleck of Epiphany at Work contributed Build Your Self-Confidence as an Anchor During Change. Jill shares, “Good leaders understand that self-confidence helps employees be more productive, but they can ignore their own confidence and its importance to personal development. Here are some easy tips to ensure you don’t get discouraged.” Find Jill on Twitter at @epiphanyatwork.

Jim Taggart of Changing Winds provided Be Open to Outcome: The Leaderly Approach. Jim shares, “I chose this particular post because it’s about personal leadership and ordinary people stepping up to do good for society with no expectation of any form of remuneration. The setting happens to be the United States for my post, from the perspective of a Canadian. Given all the negativity in the media, we need to reflect on the good acts that people do each and every day.” Find Jim on Twitter at @72keys.

Jim Thomas of Development Dimensions International (DDI) shared The Dirty Little Secret About Expat Failure. Jim wrote, “An expat assignment can be a growth opportunity and a great adventure. But is it a smart career choice? In this post, I discuss the ways expat assignments can go wrong, and how many organizations don’t even bother to measure the ROI in their employee mobility programs.” Find Jim at @ddiworld.

Joel Garfinkle of the Career Advancement Blog submitted Don’t Let Your Work Speak For Itself: 3 Ways to Increase Your Visibility. Joel recaps: “Don’t just let your work speak for itself. It’s time you actively increased your visibility. Here are 3 ways to make that happen.” Discover Joel on Twitter at @JoelGarfinkle.

John Hunter of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog shared Cater to Customers’ Desires to Achieve Customer Delight. John summarizes, “Customer delight requires understanding your customers needs and desires. Often even your customers don’t understand these well. Businesses that have a deep appreciation for what their customers, and potential customers, desire and that create systems to deliver solutions that delight those customers benefit greatly from that effort.” Find John on Twitter at @curiouscat_com.

Jon Mertz of Thin Difference contributed Less Talk, More Action: Where Do You Fall?. Jon asks, “What have you done lately to lend a hand and lead change? We cannot afford just small talk or empty talking heads. We need more doing. It’s time to act upon the change we wish to see.” Follow Jon on Twitter at @thindifference.

Julie Winkle-Giulioni of Julie Winkle-Giulioni provided Want to Institutionalize Career Development? Look for (or Cultivate) these Cultural Markers Julie recaps, “Does your organization have the cultural markers that enable authentic, sustainable career development? Julie’s article and the assessment it contains helps you answer this question.” Find Julie on Twitter at @julie_wg.

Karin Hurt of Let’s Grow Leaders contributed Stop this Terrible Habit You Don’t Even Know You Have. In the post, Karin points out a terrible habit many leaders have—and why you should stop it right away if you have it too. Follow Karin on Twitter at @letsgrowleaders.

Marcella Bremer of Leadership and Change Magazine provided How Can You Develop Your Personal Positive Power at Work?. Marcella recaps, “How can you develop your personal positive power at work? There are four levels to work on, starting with yourself: ME. Here’s the overview of the book that I am blogging! I hope you like it – in this era, we need as many positive agents as possible to make change happen.” Find Marcella on Twitter at @marcellabremer.

Mary Ila Ward of Horizon Point Consulting contributed Are Your Goals Comfortable, Delusional or Somewhere in Between?. She recaps, “Throughout January, Mary Ila has been talking about methods for goal setting to set us all up for a successful 2017. In this post Mary Ila looks at how we should step outside our goal comfort zones to achieve peak performance in 2017. ” Discover Mary Ila on Twitter at @maryilaward.

Michael Lee Stallard of Connection Culture provided What Disengaged Employees Would Say to the Boss (If They Could Be Honest). Michael recaps, “What if you could hear the honest truth about things disengaged employees wish you would do? Michael Stallard shares 6 ways that leaders can boost employee engagement.” Find Michael on Twitter at @michaelstallard.

Miki Saxon of MAPping Company Success contributed 3 Steps to Being a Great Boss. Miki writes, “Being a great boss has a lot to do with being a great worker, then fulfilling your own desires after you are promoted.” Discover Miki on Twitter at @optionsanity.

Neal Burgis of Burgis Successful Solutions submitted Being an Inspired Leader. Neal recaps, “Inspired leaders know how to their employees well enough to inspire them to create and produce great work. Employees who are inspired by leaders contribute significantly than those who are not inspired.” Find Neal on Twitter at @exec_solutions.

Paul LaRue of The UPwards Leader contributed 5 Reasons To Keep Recruiting When Fully Staffed. Paul summarizes, “If you have a full complement of people on your team, you may want to see the wisdom in staying in recruiting mode. The reasons may surprise you, but the benefits are tremendous.” Follow Paul on Twitter at @paul_larue.

Paula Kiger of Big Green Pen submitted The Gift of the Present Moment: A Book Excerpt. Paula summarizes, “In this excerpt from The Five Thieves of Leadership by John Izzo, leaders are encouraged to learn how to center themselves in the present moment and, by doing so, to deter the happiness thief of control.” Follow Paula on Twitter at @biggreenpen.

Randy Conley of Leading With Trust shared The Strategy Every Leader Can Use to Develop High-Performing Employees. Randy writes, “The performance of your employees is a reflection of your leadership. What does your team’s performance say about you? Randy shares new research from The Ken Blanchard Companies that points to the strategy any leader can use to develop high-performing employees.” Find Randy on Twitter at @randyconley.

Robyn McLeod of Chatsworth Consulting shared Slow It Down and Keep It Real. In this post, Robyn shares why being thoughtful, being present, focusing on the quality of our interactions not the quantity, and spending face-to-face time with others, helps us to slow down and put our relationships back in the center of our communications. Find Robyn at @ThoughtfulLdrs.

Shelley Row of Shelley Row submitted The Number One Way to Show Respect at Work. In this piece, Shelley reminds us of “a simple, but often neglected way to show respect to one another at work.”  Discover Shelley on Twitter at @shelleyrow.

Susan Mazza of Random Acts of Leadership provided 5 Ideas to Help You Cultivate Leadership. Susan explains, “The ultimate sign of an effective leader is that they are cultivating leadership in others. Sometimes this happens naturally. Yet, more often than not, if you want to cultivate leadership, you need to be intentional.” Follow Susan on Twitter at @susanmazza.

Tanveer Naseer of Tanveer Naseer submitted How Would You Answer This Question About Your Leadership? . Tanveer explains this piece shares, “A question every leader should be asking themselves in order to figure out how successful their leadership will ultimately be.” Discover Tanveer on Twitter at @tanveernaseer.

Thom Pirone of Stronghold Training shared Thoughts on the Death of a Leader. In this memorial post to a revered mentor, Thom reflects on the three marks of a genuine leader, including how the impact they leave will be personal and profound. Follow Thom on Twitter at @strongholdthom.

Wally Bock of Three Star Leadership submitted 3 Ways Excellent Leaders Keep Getting Better. Wally recaps, “Great leaders keep getting better. Here are three ways.” Find Wally on Twitter at @wallybock.

Willy Steiner of Executive Coaching Concepts provided 8 “Whats” to Engage and Mentor. Willy explains, “Key challenges for leaders to retain the best talent are to keep their staff engaged with the enterprise and to provide effective mentoring to help them grow and develop.  This post suggest 8 key “WHAT…” questions to support your staff in each area. Discover Willy on Twitter at @coachforexecs.

The monthly Leadership Development Carnival provides you with two useful things.

First, good info on a variety of “wetware” (AKA, people) issues, such as culture, leadership, management, etc.

Second, it introduces you to solid sources on these subjects with whom you may be unfamiliar.

So dig in and garner the intel that will help make 2017 a banner year for you.

So without further ado, here is the January 2017 Leadership Development Carnival.

Art Petty submitted Leveling Up to Change is THE Issue. Art summarizes, “For all of us, the need to help our firms navigate change while doing the same in our careers defines our level-up challenge.” Follow Art on Twitter at @artpetty.

Beth Beutler of H.O.P.E. Unlimited provided The Day I Messed Up. Beth recaps, “This post elaborates on some thoughts about when the mistake is your own.” Find Beth on Twitter at @bethbeutler.

Chris Edmonds of the Purposeful Culture Group contributed Culture Leadership Charge: The Right Culture Matters. In this post, Chris shares a real-world example of a client that did some “culture refinement” to improve employee engagement and customer service. Follow Chris on Twitter at @scedmonds.

Dana Theus of InPower Coaching contributed Workplace Advice-Why Should I Bother Feeling Grateful For a Crappy Boss?. Dana writes, “When you have a tough work situation, finding ways to feel gratitude and appreciation can go a long way to turning the situation around, but is it really the best strategy? Often gratitude is the last thing you feel. Here’s how effective leaders approach gratitude in tough situations.” Find Dana on Twitter at @DanaTheus.

David Dye of Trailblaze submitted How to Lead When Everything Goes Crazy. David summarizes, “People act irrationally, circumstances change, and the truly unforeseeable happens. The good news is that you don’t need a specific step-by-step plan for the infinite number of problems you might face. David shares a better way to meet your leadership challenges.” Follow David on Twitter at @davidmdye.

David Grossman of The Grossman Group shared 7 Things Every Employee Wants from Their Boss. David writes, “What do employees want? While the answer varies by employee, our research and work reveals a collective ‘wish list’ every boss should know. Best of all, everything on the wish list is free.” Discover David on Twitter at @thoughtpartner.

Jill Malleck of Epiphany at Work contributed Everyday Recognition Matters Most. Jill shares, “At year-end leaders often think about how to thank their teams. The best leaders weave recognition into every day so that no one feels undervalued.” Find Jill on Twitter at @epiphanyatwork.

Jesse Lyn Stoner of the Seapoint Center shared Do an Ethics Check to Navigate the Gray Zone. Jesse Lyn recaps, “It’s easy to know what’s ethical when your choices are clear-cut. But there’s a huge gray zone where the choices are not so clear. Ethical decision-making can be challenging in our personal lives. And, when you are in a role that impacts others, it becomes even more critical. Use these 3 questions to provide ethical leadership through the gray zone.” Follow Jesse Lyn on Twitter at @JesseLynStoner.

Jim Taggart of Changing Winds provided Why America is Good and Great. Jim shares, “I chose this particular post because it’s about personal leadership and ordinary people stepping up to do good for society with no expectation of any form of remuneration. The setting happens to be the United States for my post, from the perspective of a Canadian. Given all the negativity in the media, we need to reflect on the good acts that people do each and every day.” Find Jim on Twitter at @72keys.

Joel Garfinkle of the Career Advancement Blog submitted The 16 Ways to Improve Your Work Performance in 2017. Joel recaps: “Learn the 16 ways to improve your work performance in 2017. These tips will help you start 2017 with a great year.” Discover Joel on Twitter at @JoelGarfinkle.

John Hunter of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog shared Podcast: Increasing the Capability of the Organization. John summarizes, “Changing how organizations are managed makes a huge difference in people’s lives. When this is done well people can go from dreading going to work to enjoying going to work, not every single day – but most days.  And it can change our lives so that most of the time we are doing things that we find valuable and we enjoy instead of just going to work to get a paycheck so we can enjoy the hours that we have away from work.” Find John on Twitter at @curiouscat_com.

Jon Mertz of Thin Difference contributed Join One20: A Day to Do Good. Jon shares, “Our country is divided. It’s time to heal our wound. On election day we need to show our good side, our good character, and do some good in our communities.” Follow Jon on Twitter at @thindifference.

Jon Verbeck of JonVerbeck.com provided The Key is Profit. In this post, Virtual CFO Jon Verbeck helps readers get back to basics—explaining that we’re in business to make a profit (which can help us do good things). Business owners must not ignore the goal of making a profit. Find Jon on Twitter at @jonverbeck1.

Julie Winkle-Giulioni of Julie Winkle-Giulioni provided The Magic of Making an Effort Julie recaps, “In a world where perfection and achievement are the eternal standard, effort might count for a lot more than many of us realize.” Find Julie on Twitter at @julie_wg.

Karin Hurt of Let’s Grow Leaders contributed 5 Questions to Help You Resolve Your Conflict. In the post, Karin reflects on a conflict that happened over the holidays, and what she and David Dye learned from it. Follow Karin on Twitter at @letsgrowleaders.

Linda Fisher Thornton of Leading in Context submitted Ethical Leadership is a Fear-Free Zone. Linda summarizes, “Fear is the toxic ingredient in many failed leadership strategies. In a fearful mode we may ‘rule out’ positive strategies that would help us solve collective problems – including dialogue, cooperation, long-term thinking and listening to understand.” Follow Linda on Twitter at @leadingincontxt.

Marcella Bremer of Leadership and Change Magazine provided The 21 Best Articles on Positive Leadership, Culture, and Change. Marcella recaps, “I support positive organizations where both people and performance thrive. Positive organizations are better at change, more innovative, competitive, profitable, and they contribute to the world – while engaged people spread their positive vibes everywhere. Here’s a list of my best liked 21 articles to date- which do you like best?” Find Marcella on Twitter at @marcellabremer.

Mary Jo Asmus of Aspire Collaborative Services LLC submitted Ten Daily Practices that Show Respect to Your Team. Mary Jo summarizes, “Showing respect for your team helps them to be motivated, dedicated and loyal. The word gets out and you become a talent magnet. Here are some great ways to show your respect on a daily basis.” Follow Mary Jo on Twitter at @mjasmus.

Mary Ila Ward of Horizon Point Consulting contributed Bridging the Divide… Education for the Future. She recaps, “A country divided is what we are all hearing. I’m tired of hearing it, aren’t you? But as I examine the problem, I realize, like we all are, I am a part of it. So let’s do something about it! The solution is education!” Discover Mary Ila on Twitter at @maryilaward.

Mary Schaefer of Artemis Path, Inc. submitted One Way to be the Change You Want to See in Your Life. Mary summarizes, “You want to eliminate an unhelpful habit, address a hot-button issue or negotiate a change at work. You can take charge. Practice making a challenging change. There’s no substitute for firsthand experience.” Follow Mary on Twitter at @maryschaefer.

Miki Saxon of MAPping Company Success contributed 56 Words That Will Change Your Life. Miki writes, “The best advice isn’t complex or filled with multi-syllabic words. It is simple to understand and takes hard work to implement it consistently. However, the payoff is definitely worth the effort.” Discover Miki on Twitter at @optionsanity.

Neal Burgis of Burgis Successful Solutions submitted Happy New Year 2017: A Change to Be Creative in Your Business. Neal recaps, “With the New Year, change takes place. Here is your opportunity to boost your idea for creating and producing a breakthrough result of your own. These tips will help you move forward in your creativity and profit from what you create.” Find Neal on Twitter at @exec_solutions.

Paul LaRue of The UPwards Leader contributed 20+1 Thoughts for Reinventing Your Leadership. Paul summarizes, “Even leaders can get stuck in a rut of ineffective and stale leadership. Here are some quick thoughts to turn yourself around and reinvent your leadership impact.” Follow Paul on Twitter at @paul_larue.

Paula Kiger of Big Green Pen submitted Six Lessons from Six Years. Paula summarizes, “Although Rakan Stormer did not reach adulthood and become a leader in business, public service, or the arts, his life taught lessons every leader should heed.” Follow Paula on Twitter at @biggreenpen.

Randy Conley of Leading With Trust shared Too Many Priorities? 3 Tips to Focus on What Matters Most. Randy writes, “The excitement of starting off a new year can cause us to set too many goals that we don’t have a realistic chance of completing. That leads to us feeling ‘over:’ overwhelmed, overcommitted, and overstressed. To avoid feeling “over” in 2017, Randy Conley offers 3 tips to focus on what matters most.” Find Randy on Twitter at @randyconley.

Russ White and Jay Anderson of Development Dimensions International (DDI) shared Agile Ready Leaders Get Their Start in Kindergarten. Russ and Jay write, “To lead a cultural transformation to Agile, leaders require a very specific mindset. In this post, we discuss the four tenets of leading in an agile environment: Be Honest, Be Kind, Be Responsible, and Work in Small Increments.” Find Russ and Jay on Twitter at @ddiworld.

Shelley Row of Shelley Row submitted Come Out of the Closet: 4 Ways to Talk About Intuition at Work. About this piece, Shelley says, “We sometimes look down on ‘intuition’ as a reliable way to make business decisions, but intuition is an important part of the process.”  Discover Shelley on Twitter at @shelleyrow.

Susan Mazza of Random Acts of Leadership provided How to Find a Mentor. Susan explains, “Potential mentors are all around you. You may even have one or more, and simply have not recognized them for their role as a mentor in your life. If you are in search of a mentor, often all you need to do is look around you and ask for the support you need.” Follow Susan on Twitter at @susanmazza.

Tanveer Naseer of Tanveer Naseer submitted A Year-End Note Of Inspiration To Keep Pushing Ahead. Tanveer explains the post is “an end-of-year note to inspire leaders to challenge their outlook and understanding for how they will empower the best in those they lead.” Discover Tanveer on Twitter at @tanveernaseer.

Wally Bock of Three Star Leadership submitted Learning to Lead. Wally recaps, “Learning to lead isn’t easy or automatic and it’s sometimes painful. But that’s the only way to get better.” Find Wally on Twitter at @wallybock.

Can you believe it? Blink three times and the year disappears. Hopefully, you’ve learned a lot this year and grown in many ways. Now choose the posts from this month’s carnival that will add an edge to what you’ve already learned.

Verity Creedy writes I Believe I Can Fly: Leadership that Inspires Innovation
Learn the three conditions that we as leaders should be setting for our teams to create and execute innovative change.
Follow Verity on Twitter: @VerityDDI

Julie Winkle Giulioni shares “Not My Decision”: Constructive Responses to Workplace Decisions You Wouldn’t Have Made
Last week, many Americans had a profound experience of what employees encounter routinely on the job: responding to a decision they don’t support but must still live with. In organizations worldwide, strategies are set, markets are selected, tactics are identified…and not everyone agrees with the direction. When confronted with these situations, it’s easy for employees to feel powerless and out of control. Yet no matter the issue or the organizational level (of those deciding or those following in the wake of the decision), what remains well within each individual’s control is how he or she responds.
Follow Julie on Twitter: @julie_wg

Julie Baron wrote How to Prevent Leadership Derailment
You made it to the leadership position you have been striving for, but what must you do to avoid derailment? Learn the derailment behaviors and traits witnessed by business leaders in corporate catering, industrial distribution, construction, web design, HR technology, gift giving, marketing, and structural engineering.
Follow Julie on Twitter: @commwrks

Dana Theus shares What to Do If You’re Worried About Getting Laid Off
Dealing with the dread of being laid off can be a gift in disguise. Use the possibility of a layoff to get proactive about your career and personal brand.
Follow Dana on Twitter: @DanaTheus

JesseLyn Stoner writes How to Talk about Politics at Work
How do you talk about politics with people whose views are different than your own? It’s not a good idea to assume that everyone agrees with your views. One thing the U.S. elections showed was that what people say and what they actually believe are not always the same. And it also showed that we need to reach across the divide and try to understand what’s really driving each other. Here are six guidelines that will help your conversations be more informative and productive.
Follow Jesse Lyn on Twitter: @JesseLynStoner

Randy Conley shares 6 Strategies for Leading When People Won’t Follow
Leadership is tough enough when things are going well, much less when people are resisting your leadership. In this post, Randy Conley shares six practical strategies leaders can use to help them deal with team members who won’t follow their lead.
Follow Randy on Twitter: @RandyConley

Mary Jo Asmus wrote Your Discomfort is Whispering to You
The discomfort you feel is normal and the tendency to avoid difficult conversations is common. Listen to your gut – it’s telling you that it’s time for you to step into that uneasiness and be a leader. This post provides practical advice on where to begin.
Follow Mary Jo on Twitter: @mjasmus

David M. Dye shares Why Do So Many Leaders Suck?
Perhaps the most common question David is asked after he shares Winning Well leadership tools is: “If this works, why are there so many lousy leaders?” In this article, David shares ten reasons leaders run into problems and how you can avoid falling into the same traps.
Follow David on Twitter: @davidmdye

Tanveer Naseer writes 3 Important Lessons Leaders Can Learn From Success
Three important lessons leaders can learn from success that will help them inspire and motivate employees to bring their best efforts over the long run.
Follow Tanveer on Twitter: @TanveerNaseer

Jon Mertz shares The Coming Day After
Regardless of your feelings about our most recent election cycle, we must all work together to end the divisiveness, stalemate, and finger-pointing. No matter our segment, our status, or our role, we must dig deeper, resolve challenges, and renew our greater purpose.
Follow Jon on Twitter: @ThinDifference

Anne Perschel wrote Your Leadership Megaphone Instruction Manual
Your leadership megaphone comes with the role, and it’s always on. People use it to broadcast what they THINK you said, and the results are not always what you intended. This instruction manual will help you use your megaphone wisely.
Follow Anne on Twitter: @bizshrink

Michael Stallard shares What Mayo Clinic Discovered About Burnout
Could something as simple as having a meal with colleagues to discuss work experience-related issues help reduce burnout? Michael Stallard explains what Mayo Clinic researchers found.
Follow Michael on Twitter: @michaelstallard

Wally Bock writes about Leadership Theology
Our discussions of leadership have begun to sound like theological debates.
Follow Wally on Twitter: @wallybock

Karin Hurt shares 7 Reasons to be a Little More Grateful at Work
Karin Hurt takes time to reflect on the things to be truly grateful for at work, and encourages us to do the same.
Follow Karin on Twitter: @letsgrowleaders

Chris Edmonds writes Culture Leadership Charge: The Weakest Link
Chris Edmonds continues his Culture Leadership Charge series with this discussion of the cost of tolerating selfish, competitive players in your culture.
Follow Chris on Twitter: @scedmonds

Shelley Row wrote Give the Gift of Attention: Three Steps You Can Take Today
Shelley gives us practical tips for sharing one of our greatest gifts with others—our attention.
Follow Shelley on Twitter: @shelleyrow

Jon Verbeck shares But I’m Not an Accountant! Why Every Business Owner Still Needs to Understand Basic Financial Statements
Jon Verbeck shares a down-to-earth explanation of the three most vital financial statements with which EVERY business owner should be familiar.
Follow Jon on Twitter: @jonverbeck1

Beth Beutler wrote A Project Management Lesson from a 6-Year-Old
Beth shares some project management tips that were inspired by a 6-year-old tackling what could have been an overwhelming project of his own.
Follow Beth on Twitter: @bethbeutler

Joel Garfinkle covers How to Get Your Ideas Heard at Work
People have difficulty getting attention, let alone getting their ideas accepted and implemented. Here are three things that you could do right now to get your ideas heard at work.
Follow Joel on Twitter: @JoelGarfinkle

Susan Mazza shares How to Overcome the Tyranny of Your To Do List
To-do lists can easily transform from a useful tool to stay focused and productive to becoming an ever present reminder of all that you are not getting done. Even though you know not everything on that list is a “must do,” it is easy to get lost in the abundance of the “should do’s” that so easily pile up over time!
Follow Susan on Twitter: @SusanMazza

Neal Burgis writes Employees to Bring Ideas to the Table
Leaders need to rely and trust employees to use their creative thinking skills to generate ideas and produce results. Allowing room for your employee’s ideas helps leaders reduce supervisory control over the solutions to problems, challenges, and difficulties. The ideas employees put out generates various alternative solutions instead of one solution to what leaders want for their clients.
Follow Neal on Twitter: @exec_solutions

Mary Ila Ward shares HR Santa Clauses focus on the Employee Experience
This holiday season, HR and Talent Management leaders may need to consider a different approach on employee engagement. Mary Ila compares her real life experience of Christmas shopping for her children to how HR Santa Clauses focus on employee engagement. After all, maybe experience is what drives the engagement.
Follow Mary Ila on Twitter: @MaryIlaWard

John Hunter writes Add Constraints to Processes Carefully
Product and service design impacts the user experience. When the product is needlessly complicated and includes needless constraints it is the opposite of mistake-proofing, it is mistake-promoting.
Follow John on Twitter: @curiouscat_com

David Grossman covers The Top Reason People Resist Change and How to Best Address It
People resist being forced to change without their involvement. They don’t like change forced down their throats. People naturally resist being controlled and being uninvolved in decisions that affect them.
Hat tip to DDI World for hosting the December Carnival.

Here we are; a third of the way through the fourth quarter and two great things are happening today.

1. We can all celebrate: no more political ads. Hooray!
2. I’m sharing some great information from some of the best thinkers on all the subjects it takes to be a great boss/leader/manager these days.

So dig in, enjoy, and learn.

Anne Perschel of Germane Coaching and Consulting submitted How Real Leaders Apologize and Mean It. Anne summarizes, “Real leaders don’t apologize AS IF they mean it. They actually mean it because they are empathetic. Empathy is the first of four elements in a genuine apology.” Follow Anne on Twitter at @bizshrink.

Beth Beutler of H.O.P.E. Unlimited provided How to Get Along with the Colleague Who is Faster Than You. Beth recaps, “Do you sometimes have to work with a colleague whose pace is faster than yours? Beth Beutler gives some techniques for navigating swift waters in business relationships.” Find Beth on Twitter at @bethbeutler.

Chris Edmonds of the Purposeful Culture Group contributed Culture Leadership Charge: Be Present. In this post, Chris charges leaders with the importance of being fully present, so they don’t send a message of “you’re not that important.” Follow Chris on Twitter at @scedmonds.

Dan McCarthy of Great Leadership provided Leaders Should Define More Than the Mountain Top, but Less Than the Whole Plan. Dan recaps, “When it comes to defining their vision, leaders tend to fall into two camps. Camp one can clearly articulate a mountain top they want to reach, but create zero clarity on how they’re going to get to that mountain top. Camp two has their mountain top defined and they also have a step-by-step guide to get from where they are today (base camp) to their mountain top. Both camps fail to create sustained motivation in their people. Guest author Hamish Knox explains why.” Locate Dan on Twitter at @greatleadership.

Dana Theus of InPower Coaching contributed Dear Dana Workplace Advice: New To the Team And Dealing With Workplace Bullying By A Colleague. Dana writes, “Dear Dana, I recently joined a new team and one of my colleagues is treating me like the hired help! I’m not sure what to do since I am new on the team and don’t want to get a reputation early on for being difficult or refusing to do work. Help! — Signed, Between a rock and a hard place in Iowa.” Find Dana on Twitter at @DanaTheus.

David Dye of Trailblaze submitted How to Lead When It Looks Impossible. David summarizes, “Every leader faces challenges that look impossible. David offers encouragement and practical next steps based on a recent mountain he and Karin Hurt climbed.” Follow David on Twitter at @davidmdye.

David Grossman of The Grossman Group shared 7 Requirements of a Strategic Messaging Methodology. David writes, “What is a Strategic Messaging Methodology, and what can it do for you, your leaders, and your organization? Simply put, it’s a process that helps you think strategically about how you develop your story, drive alignment, and tell it powerfully—whether it’s a large organizational story or whether you want to communicate change inside your organization. ” Discover David on Twitter at @thoughtpartner.

Evan Sinar of Development Dimensions International (DDI) provided LeaderPulse: The 5 Most Valuable Gifts Most Leaders Aren’t Getting. Evan recaps, “If you missed Boss’s Day last month, it’s never too late for employees to recognize their life-changing leaders. We looked to our research to come up with five less common, but more valuable gifts.” Find Evan on Twitter at @evansinar.

Jill Malleck of Epiphany at Work contributed They Told You What They Think of You, Now What?. Jill shares, “Getting 360 degree feedback anonymously can be overwhelming and cause anxiety. Jill explains how you can pluck out the meaningful messages and take positive action.” Find Jill on Twitter at @epiphanyatwork.

Jesse Lyn Stoner of the Seapoint Center shared  7 Fail-Safe Steps to Increase Responsibility and Develop Your Team . Jesse Lyn recaps, “If you’re not offering your people the opportunity to grow – to increase their responsibility and learn new skills – you are going to lose them. But increasing responsibility without also delegating authority is a recipe for disaster. And simply delegating is not always the answer either.” Follow Jesse Lyn on Twitter at @JesseLynStoner.

Jim Taggart of Changing Winds provided Samsung’s Failed Executive Leadership. Jim shares, “Being the top leader of an organization, whether in the public or private sphere, is no easy task. What’s more appropriately called executive managerial leadership (as opposed to the overused, feel good term “leadership”), those at the helm of companies or government agencies have huge responsibilities.” Find Jim on Twitter at @72keys.

Joel Garfinkle of the Career Advancement Blog submitted 5-Step Plan to Developing Your Personal Brand. Joel recaps: “Have you developed your personal brand? No? Then it’s no surprise that you’re not moving up in your career. Implement this 5-step plan for career advancement.” Discover Joel on Twitter at @JoelGarfinkle.

John Hunter of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog shared Bell Labs Designing a New Phone System Using Idealized Design. John summarizes, “The basic idea of idealized design is to create a new design for a product, service or the organization based on what is feasible today (but without being limited by the constraints of the existing state). Then, use that ideal to guide you as you figure out a plan to move from the existing state to that idealized design.” Find John on Twitter at @curiouscat_com.

Jon Mertz of Thin Difference contributed Discontentment: A Great Leadership Challenge. Jon shares, “Discontentment seems to be reaching epidemic proportions. What can we do as leaders to begin to unravel it? ” Follow Jon on Twitter at @thindifference.

Jon Verbeck of JonVerbeck.com provided The Dashboard May be the Most Important Part of Your Company Vehicle. In this post, Virtual CFO Jon Verbeck explains the important parts of a financial dashboard for your company. Find Jon on Twitter at @jonverbeck1.

Julie Winkle-Giulioni of Julie Winkle-Giulioni provided Whoa! What are today’s most common leadership mistakes? Julie recaps, “As counterintuitive as it may seem, well-meaning leaders undermine staff development – and ultimately results – not because they are doing too little but because they are doing too much.” Find Julie on Twitter at @julie_wg.

Karin Hurt of Let’s Grow Leaders contributed 7 Things Your High-Performance Employees Long to Hear You Say. Karin recaps, “Your high-performing employees never seem like the MIT (Most Important Thing), but the truth is, when I meet with them and ask what they need, I hear about things they long for from their boss.” Follow Karin on Twitter at @letsgrowleaders.

Lisa Kohn of Thoughtful Leaders contributed Four Key Steps to Being, and Getting More Done. Lisa shares why we need to spend at least as much time “being” as “doing,” and how to do this in our too-busy world. Follow Lisa on Twitter at @thoughtfulldrs.

Marcella Bremer of Leadership and Change Magazine provided The Power of Less: Get More Done. Marcella recaps, “I love Leo Babauta’s message from The Power Of Less. It sounds so simple, but it’s easier said than done: Identify the essential and eliminate the rest. If you spread yourself too thin; it dilutes your power and effectiveness. Do you do little of too many things? Or do you focus on just one big goal?” Find Marcella on Twitter at @marcellabremer.

Mary Jo Asmus of Aspire Collaborative Services LLC submitted Do Less and Be More of a Leader. Mary Jo summarizes, “Being a people leader requires you to shift your mindset into knowing who you are and developing yourself within that framework.” Follow Mary Jo on Twitter at @mjasmus.

Mary Ila Ward of Horizon Point Consulting contributed Leaders and Runners, Don’t Run the Race Alone. She recaps, “In ‘Leaders and Runners, Don’t Run the Race Alone,’ Mary Ila encourages leaders to arm themselves with a wingman or wingwoman and provides tips on how leaders can gain ‘wing strength,’ emphasizing that ‘All runners, and leaders, especially those out for the long haul, need a wingman.’” Discover Mary Ila on Twitter at @maryilaward.

Michael Lee Stallard of Michael Lee Stallard submitted Finish 2016 Strong: Refocus, Reconnect, Reenergize . Michael shares, “With 2016 rapidly drawing to a close, now is the time to establish your plan to finish the year strong. Michael Stallard shares advice for leaders on meeting year-end goals.” Follow Michael on Twitter at @michaelstallard.

Miki Saxon of MAPping Company Success contributed Golden Oldie: Customer Service Week 2016. Miki writes, “There is much talk, and even some action, about “enhancing customer experience,” but, when you’re a line manager, who exactly are your customers?” Discover Miki on Twitter at @optionsanity.

Neal Burgis of Burgis Successful Solutions submitted Leaders, Start Viewing Setbacks as Opportunities. Neal recaps, “Too many leaders get flustered when a business setback occurs. You need to take a step back and look at what happened and take action to move forward.” Find Neal on Twitter at @exec_solutions.

Paul LaRue of The UPwards Leader contributed How To Lead With A Sandbox Culture. Paul summarizes, “Striking a balance between cultural and operational parameters that allows your employees room to innovate is always a challenge. Thinking of it as a sandbox in a playground will help that balance.” Follow Paul on Twitter at @paul_larue.

Randy Conley of Leading With Trust shared 10 Ways Leaders Can Easily Build Trust with Their New Teams. Randy writes, “Trust doesn’t ‘just happen’ by accident. It takes intentional effort and leaders need to have a specific game plan to establish and nurture trust in relationships. Randy Conley offers advice from the trenches in this post.” Find Randy on Twitter at @randyconley.

Shelley Row of Shelley Row submitted Pushing a Wheel Chair: Lessons in Servant Leadership. In this piece, Shelley shared lessons learned about servant leadership as she took on caregiving responsibilities for her husband.” Discover Shelley on Twitter at @shelleyrow.

Susan Mazza of Random Acts of Leadership provided I Choose to Honor You. Susan explains, “If we truly want to be constructive participants and collaborators in our democracy, we need to bring a better spirit to our conversations with each other. We need to start talking with one another about the things that are hard to talk about, to engage in conversations with people who do not look or think like us, so we can learn. We need to be far more curious and much more discerning about what we believe and what we think we know, and seek truth rather than assume we are being told the truth.” Follow Susan on Twitter at @susanmazza.

Tanveer Naseer of Tanveer Naseer submitted Why Expressing Gratitude Through Our Leadership Matters. Tanveer explains the post is, “A look at how expressing gratitude can help leaders bring out the best in those they lead and drive their organizations to succeed.” Discover Tanveer on Twitter at @tanveernaseer.

Wally Bock of Three Star Leadership submitted Thoughts on Retirement and Purpose. Wally recaps, “People need a purpose. Without purpose, there’s not much reason to get up in the morning.” Find Wally on Twitter at @wallybock.

The 2016 election season is already too long.

Not to mention too divisive, too nasty, too hateful and devoid of any sign of real leadership

While we can’t hope for an actual leader, as described in this month’s Carnival,  that doesn’t mean you can’t emulate many of the qualities described no matter your position — just tweak them a bit to fit the situation.

Anne Perschel of Germane Coaching and Consulting submitted Golden Rules for Leading Transformation. Anne summarizes, “When the CEOs of Ford Motor Company, Nokia, and Microsoft began changing their respective companies’ core business and/or culture, they each established golden rules for leading transformation. Learn from them how to do the same for your company.” Follow Anne on Twitter at @bizshrink.

Beth Beutler of H.O.P.E. Unlimited provided Why I’ve Cut Back Working at Coffee Shops. Beth recaps, “Many leaders work in locations outside of their own office from time to time. But it may not always be as productive. In this post, I share some downsides to working at coffee shops.” Find Beth on Twitter at @bethbeutler.

Chris Edmonds of the Purposeful Culture Group contributed Leading a Purposeful, Positive, Productive Culture. Chris reminds us of the important part our company culture plays in getting the results we want. Follow Chris on Twitter at @scedmonds.