Can you believe the year is half over? I can’t, but it must be since I’m getting ready to watch fireworks. And speaking of fireworks, here is the July Leadership Development Carnival with fireworks of its own if you’re the wrong kind of boss.

Part One:
From Wayne Turmel, The Connected Manager blog, here’s Why WebEx is like Soylent Green.
Lynn Dessert, from Elephants at Work, gives us Leadership Agility: How to Improve it. “Knowing what gets in the way of leadership agility is the easy part, improving it proves to be more difficult.”
Art Petty, from his Management Excellence blog, presents Just One Thing: Always Add Clarity to Challenge.
Here’s Bernd Geropp, from More Leadership, Less Management, with Micromanagers and the e-mail trap. “Many entrepreneurs and senior managers tend to work around the clock, but take too little time for the real leadership tasks.”
Jesse Lyn Stoner closes out our first sement with a bang with A Big Goal Is Not the Same As a Vision, from her Jesse Lyn Stoner blog. “It’s easy to confuse a really big goal with a vision, but the difference is important. Here’s how to tell.”

Part Two:
Chris Edmonds presents Build a Culture of Accountability, from his Driving Results Through Culture blog. Chris tells us how to set clear goals and citizenship standards then hold all staff accountable for both.
Anne Perschel, from From Germane Insights, presents Dear Leader: Do We Have a Deal?
Adi Gaskell, from Process Excellence Network presents Seven habits of Highly Inefficient People.
“A light-hearted look at some habits you don’t want to mimic at work.”
Mary Jo Asmus, from Mary Jo Asmus presents Stand Up. “Leading others sometimes means taking a stand for what’s right, even when there is risk involved. The best leaders have the courage to stand up in order to stand out.”
Jane Perdue gives us Effective leaders are tough AND tender, from her LeadBIG blog. “Combining empathy with accountability is a unique skill set no leader should be without.”

Part Three:
Tanmay Vora, from his QAspire Blog presents Leading Projects: Balancing Rational with Emotion.
“When leading projects and building an organization, leaders have to balance rational with emotion, processes with empathy and practices with people.”
Jim Taggart, from Changing Winds, presents The 6 Inner Leadership Selves. “In the post I talk about different ways leadership can be practiced. I provide contrasting questions for each of the six elements I present. These questions are aimed at fostering personal reflection by the reader.”
Mary Ila Ward from Horizon Point Consulting submits Pot, Meet Kettle. “Many people seek to model the behaviors of their leaders. But are you modeling behaviors that you want others to demonstrate?  This piece highlights how the behaviors we dislike in others are often ones we demonstrate ourselves, and seeks to outlines ways to overcoming derailing workplace behaviors.”
Linda Fisher Thornton from her Leading in Context Blog presents Leading for Ethical Performance.  “Senior leaders need to work together as a team to create an organization where ethical leadership is rewarded and unethical leadership is quickly corrected.”
Margy Stoner (of Weaving Influence LLC) submits on behalf of Wendy Appel, from her Wendy Appel: The Enneagram Source blog: What it Means for Leaders to Show Up. “In this post, Wendy Appel, author of “InsideOut Enneagram” discusses the meaning of the words “show up.” She writes, “When we show up and are present, we can listen to what has heart and meaning, tell the truth without blame or judgment and be open to outcome, not attached to outcome.”

Part Four:
Lisa Kohn of Chatsworth Consulting Group presents 6 steps to avoiding analysis paralysis on The Thoughtful Leaders Blog, where she talks about the challenges of balancing between planning and doing. Submitted by Melody Bridgewater.
Wally Bock, from his Three Star Leadership Blog presents The People-Centered Workplace. “Too much management thinking tries to turn people into something else.There’s a better way.”
Randy Conley, from his LeadingWithTrust blog presents Father’s Day Special: Five Leadership Lessons From Being a Dad. “Lessons on being a better leader are all around us if we’re only willing to pay attention. In honor of Father’s Day a few weeks ago, I reflected on just a few of the many lessons I’ve learned from being a father and how they’ve helped me as a leader.”
Nick McCormick from Joe and Wanda on Management presents Continuous Learning.

The Grand Finale:
Miki Saxon from MAPping Company Success presents What is Diversity? “What constitutes true diversity? Is there more to it than can be seen? Is there an accurate indicator for you as a leader that you are actually achieving it?”
David Burkus from LDRLB presents a guest post by Betty Bailey: Going off the Rails.
Jennifer V. Miller from The People Equation presents Leading a Meeting? How to Avoid a Snooze-Fest. All leaders run meetings, but not all of them do it well. Jennifer V. Miller, a former corporate trainer, shares tips for managing group dynamics that work equally well for workshops or meetings. Bonus content – she’s offering a free reference sheet called “6 Tips for Getting People Involved”.
Guy Farmer from Unconventional Training presents How to Keep Your Employees Motivated.
“Proactive leaders understand that motivating employees is about helping them feel great about themselves and doing meaningful work.”
Mark Bennett from TalentedApps presents Leadership and Complexity. “One of a leader’s job is to reduce complexity. How to do that isn’t very simple.”

Image credit: Great Leadership

A bit of this and that again today.

You may have noticed that the June Leadership Development Carnival was missing from the first Monday this month. It happened because this month’s host published it the second Monday instead of the first Sunday as usual. The delay, however, had absolutely no impact on the extraordinary quality of information shared on it. Enjoy!

Those of you concerned with strategy, either because you set it or are just interested in how it works, will find McKinsey’s approach to crowdsourcing strategy an intriguing idea. (Free registration required.)

…“making the vision meaningful to employees at a personal level” and “soliciting employee involvement in setting the company’s direction.” If that’s right, it suggests that making more employees part of the strategy process should be a powerful means of aligning them more closely with the company’s overall direction.

Finally, cyberbullying is rarely a laughing matter even leading to suicide. But sometimes even bad stuff can be fought through a combination or creativity and laughter.

The comedian Isabel Fay and fellow artists just posted a YouTube video featuring a song that ridicules online bullies who have targeted them. (…)“Love ya,” Ms. Fay says. “Keep on trollin’!”

YouTube image: Clever Pie

Flickr image credit: pedroelcarvalho

April showers bring May flowers and the first Monday brings the May Leadership Development Carnival! Your own personal showers to help grow.

Art Petty presents The Cruel, Bitter And Crushing Taste of Dump Truck Feedback, from his Management Excellence Blog. Several metaphors were massacred in the writing of this post!

Sharlyn Lauby from HR Bartender, presents What Creates a High Performing Organization. Does social media play a role in developing high performance? This post explores the concept. I had a chance to meet Sharlyn recently at a conference, and she is the real deal!

Lolly Daskal is very passionate about the power of heart-based leadership, the value of personal integrity, helping people achieve their potential, and the importance of making a difference in the world. She’s also been a consistent Twitter supporter of Great Leadership. Here’s The Truth About Leadership, from her Lead from Within blog.

Wally Bock from Three Star Leadership presents Magical Bosses. Great bosses get results that often seem magical. But there’s method to the magic.

Last month’s Carnival host, Tanmay Vora, from QAspire Blog, presents Lifelong Learning: Lesson from a Cab Driver. “I once heard Tom Peters saying that if you are a business traveler, you learn the most not from the corporate executives but from the cab drivers. You really get a perspective about life. I experienced it first-hand!”

Jesse Lyn Stoner from Jesse Lyn Stoner Blog presents Five Pitfalls to Avoid When Identifying Team Values. If you want to identify the right team values and ensure they are lived, avoid these 5 common pitfalls.

Jennifer V. Miller from The People Equation presents The KISS Model of Leadership Development.
Worn out by all the complex leadership development systems in your company? Jennifer Miller gives leaders a respite with a “keep it simple” approach to daily leadership development.

Mike Henry and Chery Gegelman from The Lead Change Group, presents Are You Making Choices That Matter? “I grew up in rural North Dakota and would occasionally see movies about events that are a part of our history but were not a part of my reality:  Movies about the civil rights movement or the Holocaust.   Watching those movies would instantly trigger my adrenalin, raise my heart-rate and make every cell in my 5’2 body feel as courageous as David taking on Goliath.   In those moments, I felt invincible and ready to kick some bully-butt…”

Mary Jo Asmus from http://www.aspire-cs.com/, presents What’s Best for Them? Managers everywhere are frustrated that their best employees aren’t moving ahead with the wonderful development suggestions they’ve been given. This post explains a simple way to change this.

Tanveer Naseer from Tanveer Naseer, presents How Are You Helping Your Employees To Be Your Organization’s Heroes?

David Burkus from LeaderLab presents Why Most Managers Are Ineffective?

How can we help leaders deal with complexity and respond to it with ethical behavior? Linda Fisher Thornton, from Leading in Context offers Leading Ethically Through Complexity.

John Hunter from Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog presents The Customer is the Purpose of Our Work. The quote from Gandhi embodies the spirit of servant leadership. Look at the purpose of the system and see how you can help. See others as the reason for your role existing not as a bother to be suffered through.

Miki Saxon from MAPping Company Success presents Ducks in a Row: When Stupid Invades the Culture. What is going on; are people really getting stupider? No matter the arena, business, political, religious or role models in general, the operative question these days is ‘What were he/she/they thinking’.

Lynn Dessert from  Elephants at Work presents Why does executive coaching take so long? The urgency to get it done quickly often produces poor coaching results. When your personal readiness and the coaching process are aligned, your goals can be reached.

Guy Farmer from Unconventional Training presents The Overlooked Leadership Tool. Leaders sometimes forget that their employees have a wealth of ideas to deal with challenges in the workplace. Discover a valuable tool to tap into that brain power.

Nick McCormick from Joe and Wanda on Management presents Benefits of Working On-line. Debra Benton, author of The Virtual Executive, shares benefits and offers managers advice for using on-line communications.

Tim Milburn from TimMilburn.com presents How To Be A De-Motivational Leader. I wrote this post as a tongue-in-cheek look at what NOT to do as a leader. Unfortunately, I’ve noticed how many leaders do these exact things. Reading about de-motivational leadership is funny. Working for a de-motivational leader…not so funny.

Joel Garfinkle from Career Advancement Blog presents 5 Surefire Tips for Job Advancement .
Professionals who want more from their careers have to seize the initiative. Many of these individuals follow a series of intentional steps to career success to secure promotions.

Bernd Geropp from More Leadership, less management presents How are correct decisions made?
Many entrepreneurs and senior managers tend to work around the clock, but take too little time for the real leadership tasks.

Anna Farmery from The Engaging Brand presents My Auntie’s 10 Steps to Social Media Measurement.

Lisa Kohn of Chatsworth Consulting Group, presents What is your greatest strength? on The Thoughtful Leaders Blog where she talks about the importance of leaders acknowledging and building upon their strengths, and choosing to use them thoughtfully.

Mary Ila Ward from Horizon Point Consulting, presents Is Your Way the only Highway? In this post, the author discusses problems with the my way or the highway mentality and introduces ways for leaders to avoid stifling creativity and innovation in those they lead.

Chris Edmonds from Driving Results Through Culture presents Out-of-the-Box Thinking About Corporate Culture. ” I discuss the unique “no-hour workweek” utilized at investment startup Betterment. They’ve found a terrific approach that honors the hectic, 24/7 pace of a startup and combines the realities of work/life balance – team members share the load, demonstrate trust & respect of each other, and don’t miss a trick. Very interesting culture”

Carol Morrison from i4cp’s Productivity Blog presents Executive Leadership: Trending Toward Trouble.

Jim Taggart from Changing Winds presents Thriving in a Boundaryless Organization: How People Can Make a Difference.

Finally, we’ll end with a last second submission from my friends at Talented Apps: Mark Bennett from TalentedApps – presents The New Crucible of Leadership. The old ways that leaders got to be in their position are being slowly eroded. Is that such a bad thing?
That’s it for this month’s edition!

Image credit:

Great Leadership

Seems like only yesterday, but here we are again; the first Monday of the month and the newest Leadership Development Carnival hosted this month at by Tanmay Vora at QAspire. Tanmay has dedicated this month’s Carnival to Earth Day on April 22.

Dan McCarthy guides us on How to Discuss a Problem with Your Manager. Dan was recently reminded by a younger employee how intimidating it can be for an employee to bring up an issue with a manager. In this post, he explains why it’s important to be able to address a problem with your manager and how to do it.

Jesse Lyn Stoner outlines 5 Important Leadership Lessons You Learned in Kindergarten. Whether you are facing challenges as a result of changes in the economy, new opportunities because of advances in technology, or already have a good idea you want to implement, these five leadership lessons can make the difference between a successful outcome and a false start. The good news is: you already learned them in kindergarten. All you need to do is remember to use them.

Mary Jo Asmus tells us “Don’t Leave Your Heart at Home”. Many leaders feel they need to be serious and tough at work. This post is an argument for the importance of leading with your heart as well as your brain.

In her post titled “Of Money, Trust and Elephants” Miki Saxon points that focusing on profits doesn’t make a company more profitable, while focusing on customer service usually does. Great customer service rests solidly on a foundation of trust and its lack is the elephant many bosses choose to ignore.

Wally Bock has been training and coaching first-time bosses for more than a quarter century and has learned some things along the way. Wally shares this wisdom in his post “What I’ve learned from 25 years of working with first-time bosses”

At Lead Change Group, Kate Nasser helps leaders question their values via her post “Leaders, Do Your Pet Peeves Disengage Employees?”. Pet peeves masquerade as values giving them hidden power over your leadership style.

Tim Milburn presents “Three Traits Of A Lifelong Leader”

In his post “Leaders, Change What You Pay Attention To”, Blanchard’s culture guru S. Chris Edmonds outlines why leaders should apply time, attention, messaging, and reinforcement of BOTH performance expectations AND values demonstration.

David Burkus at LeaderLab presents “How Good Leaders Become Bad Bosses” outlining leadership burn out and entropy.

Bret Simmons takes a fresh look at leadership and management in his post “The Difference Between Management And Leadership”

Leaders often think that enthusiasm alone will help them get their teams lined up behind a vision. Jennifer V. Miller, in her post “How To Gain Buy-In from Your Team” outlines why this isn’t true and describes two other key components needed to gain buy-in from team members.

Gwyn Teatro presents Leadership Lessons from Ernest Hemingway’s story “The Old Man and the Sea”.

Robyn McLeod at The Thoughtful Leaders Blog presents “Bucket filling as a leadership competency”. Bucket filling technique is used in schools to teach children the value of compassion, respect and kindness. This post looks at how leaders can be more effective by practicing “bucket filling” in the workplace.

Mary Ila Ward at Horizon Point Consulting presents a post titled “Queen Bee Syndrome” with an interesting take on women and leadership.

Flashing back to his days in the headquarters of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, Michael Wade of Execupundit.com outlines 10 key qualities of effective staff officers (equally applies to great leaders)

Art Petty at Management Excellence presents “At Least 10 More Things to Stop Doing if You’re the Boss”

Jane Perdue presents “7 Ways to Maintain Momentum”. The next time you’re cruising down the highway and see the road sign that reads “keep moving, change lanes later” – smile and follow these seven tips!

It is easy to feel victimized when your ideas are rejected by your Boss. Soon, you will be in a leadership position and people that are following you will start feeling the same. Rajesh Setty offers a fresh look at the problem in his post “Is Your Boss Killing Your Ideas?”

Laura Schroeder’s post “Think Moneyball” emphasizes on important fact that the war for talent is won from within.

Lynn Dessert at Elephants at Work blog presents How to introduce an assessment to the team.

In his post, Sustainable Means More Than Recycling, Mark Bennet nudges us to think what can happen when leadership is focused on how they manage talent and shape behaviors to the same extent it is focused on strategy and structure.

In his post “The Truth About Your Time”, Kevin Eikenberry dispels the myth that leaders don’t have enough time and challenges us to have a proper perspective of time.

Utpal Vaishnav states that if we learn to look beyond what’s normal, if we learn to be unreasonable, we can enter into realm of new possibilities and make a difference. Check out his post: Want to Make a Difference? Be Unreasonable.

Linda Fisher Thornton writes about “The Adaptability Paradox” – difficulty we have as leaders staying current and “learning through” change.

Many leaders are afraid of change rather than seeing it as an opportunity to move forward and build a stronger organization. Are You Ready for Change? by Guy Farmer provides some signs to assess “change readiness” of your organization.

Kurt Harden in his post “On Reaching Out” suggests that we speak clearly in business world rather than succumb to the urge to fall in the herds of business men and women who speak jargon.

Image credit: Great Leadership

That is green as in St Patrick’s Day. Host Dan McCarthy offers up a lot of gold to enjoy with your beer and some little people and shamrocks to enhance your luck. Enjoy them today or save some for your daily commute and anywhere else you been a brief reading break.

Shamrocks:
Mark Bennett, from TalentedApps, starts us off with Leadership and Thinking – What’s the Catch?
“What kind of thinking is best for leaders to exhibit vs. what kind of thinking do people want to see?”

Jennifer V. Miller, from The People Equation, gives us 7 Things Employees Want to Know In a Department Reshuffle.
As a leader, have you become blasé about seemingly endless company reorganizations? Your employees haven’t. Read Jennifer Miller’s post to get the low-down on how to get your employees on board with the latest reshuffling of the boxes on the org. chart.” Hint: it starts with the radio station WIIFM….

Art Petty serves up some Leadership Caffeine-12 Shots of Leadership Espresso from his Management Excellence blog.

Jane Perdue, from LeadBIG (new name and design) submits this post by Deb Costello: Just Get Up and Lead.
Deb using a moving story to illustrate that good leaders are a combination of three things; ability, integrity and compassion.

Miki Saxon, from MAPping Company Success gives us this 4 part series: Ducks in a Row: A Serious Downside to Always On.
How important is it that your people disconnect instead of being on 24/7? Is it the boss’s responsibility to make sure that happens? If so, what kind of example do you set?

And if you liked that last post, wait until you read Steve Roesler, from All Things Workplace, with  Master the Segue.
Leaders are databases of information. Successful leaders know how to tie that info together and connect the dots for their people. Here’s one really good technique to remember.

Pot ‘O Gold:
Welcome Chery Gegelman, from The Profoundly Simple blog, with her debut Carnival post Diamonds in the rough:  How to recognize your star employees, published in SmartBlog on Leadership.
“When I ask executives and hiring managers what their biggest challenge is, at least 90% of the time I get the same answer:  “People.”  Followed by a quick explanation about how hard it is to find enough qualified and caring people to do the work.  So here’s the challenge, if polished gems don’t grow on trees: How and where do you find them?”

Wally Bock, from Three Star Leadership, gives us So now you’re the boss.
There are some times in life when everything changes. Becoming a boss is one of those times.

Robert Tanner, from Management is a Journey passes along some wise advice from his Grandmother with In 100 Words: When Being Too Smart is the Problem.
Have you ever heard the expression that some people are too smart for their own good?  It turns out that there is much truth in this saying and leaders are often the biggest culprits.  Sometimes leaders are just “too smart” to effectively lead others.

Rising leadership blogging star Jesse Lyn Stoner, from Jesse Lyn Stoner Blog, gives us Characteristics of an Effective Vision: Create a DRIVING Vision.
What’s the difference between a vague, “pie-in-the-sky” vision and one that steers your team on a daily basis? This post describes the 7 characteristics of a DRIVING vision. It also includes a link to a quick (free) assessment that shows to extent your team is guided by a shared vision and provides advice on how to proceed.

David Burkus, from LeadersLab, gives us How Good Leaders Become Bad Bosses.

Melody Bridgewater, from The Thoughtful Leaders Blog gives us Lisa Kohn’s Leadership lessons from the Oscars…Silence deserves an award.
“I was reminded (and amazed) at how much we reveal with everything other than our actual words.”

Leprechauns:
A warm welcome to another new blogger Mary Ila Ward, from Horizon Point Consulting, who gives us The Priceless Handwritten Note.
“This blog post discusses importance of leaders writing handwritten notes in order to express to people that they are valued.  It highlights instances of where I’ve seen the handwritten note used and its impact as well as recommendations for getting started on writing handwritten notes regularly.”

Scott Eblin, from Scott Eblin’s Next Level Blog gives us  Does Your Team Really Know What You Want?
Executive coach and author Scott Eblin shares a quick overview and a video coaching session with three tips for leaders who want to get results by leveraging their team.

Eric Pennington from Epic Living Blog presents Does Your Corporate Team Look Like Urban Meyer’s.
In this post, Eric Pennington, explores what is missing from many organizational structures.

Mike Henry Sr., from Lead Change Group presents a post from Chad Balthrop, The Remarkable Power of Lists.
Chad Balthrop makes a compelling argument for the value and importance of lists, not as a substitute for leadership, but as a way to clarify vision, purpose and priorities.  Lists help us think and communicate and, like the monthly carnival, they help us eliminate the noise and focus on the important.

Anna Farmery from The Engaging Brand presents Do you know your augmentation gene?

S. Chris Edmonds from Driving Results Through Culture presents Cultivate Intelligent Disobedience
Blanchard’s culture guru, S. Chris Edmonds, describes  how organization’s can help talented staff do the right thing –    beyond policies & procedures.

Green Beer:
Mary Jo Asmus from Mary Jo Asmus, What is the Conversation You Need to Have?
Even leaders sometimes have a hard time knowing how to conceptualize and start a tough conversation. Some tips to get started from Mary Jo Asmus are in this post.

Sharlyn Lauby from HR Bartender seves up Leadership Isn’t About Being First.                               
Leadership is about knowing when to let others go first

Wayne Turmel w/guest Jay Jamrog from The Cranky Middle Manager Show gives us The top human capital needs of 2012.
What do the people who lead companies worry about when they think about their people? Research says leaders of good companies think a little differently than those just hustling to get by…..

Here’s Joel Garfinkle’s guest post on LeaderLab How Fear of Self-Promotion Can Kill Your Career
If you want to keep moving ahead in your career, it is absolutely essential that you overcome your fear of self-promotion.

Benjamin McCall from ReThinkHr presents We were not meant to work…
There is no doubt that more of us are feeling the pressure to work and perform. However, we also need to remember why we are truly here! Our sole purpose was not for us to work… We are meant to do more than just that…

Lynn Dessert from Elephants at Work presents Using Strong Interest Survey for Career Decisions
Whether you are at a career crossroads or are looking to validate your direction, assessments can assist in your decision-making process.

And to close out this Green edition of the Leadership Development Carnival, Dan McCarthy from Great Leadership presents the Muppets, with a tearful rendition of  “Danny Boy”.

Image credit: Great Leadership and YouTube

Can you believe it? January is gone, the Super Bowl is over and the Giants won (hooray)!!!!!!!!!!!! Also, it’s the first Monday of the month, which means it’s time for the Leadership Development Carnival. Last month a reader wrote me and asked if I really thought anyone had time to read all the Carnival posts. I agreed that it was unlikely, but suggested they are the perfect length when waiting for commute transportation, a meeting to start and, of course, bathroom reading.

With that in mind, let’s get right to the main event.

Wally Bock presents Fundamental Advice for a Young Leader posted at Three Star Leadership, saying “Noah Lomax asked me for ‘fundamental advice’ for a young leader. Here’s my best shot.”

Anne Perschel presents Manager or Leader – Which One is More Important? posted at Germane Insights, providing a case study and a story of two men, one is seen as a leader, the other as a manager. Which one is more important?

Tanmay Vora presents Fostering Autonomy in a Team: 7 Lessons posted at QAspire. People do their best work when they are “intrinsically motivated” and one of the most important intrinsic motivator for people is autonomy in work. This post outlines 7 lessons learned in building a self organized team.

Jesse Lyn Stoner presents No More Boring Meetings, Please! posted at Jesse Lyn Stoner Blog. The purpose of a team meeting is to create and tap into the collective wisdom. Holding a meeting to share information is not a good reason to meet. This post lists 7 good reasons a team should meet and 3 tips to determine whether a meeting is necessary.

Mary C Schaefer presents 3 Things Great Leaders Know About Managing Change posted at Lead Change Group Blog. Mary reminds us to appreciate resistance to change and to give people adequate time, tools and resources to prepare for change in order to give our organization the best chances for success.

Sharlyn Lauby presents The Inevitable Shift from Jobs to Skills posted at HR Bartender. Superb post about what is perhaps the most important issue of our time across the globe.

David Zinger presents 8 Powerful Approaches to Create Meaningful Employee Engagement posted at David Zinger Employee Engagement, providing an outline of how to weave meaning into work.

Lynn Dessert presents Have Performance Reviews run their course? posted at Elephants at Work, asking do Performance Reviews deliver their intent or has process gobbled them up?

Miki Saxon presents Ducks in a Row: Titles—Silly or Serious? posted at MAPping Company Success. It’s the report structure that moves new CXO titles from silly to serious.

Chris Edmonds presents Plot Your Path to Ethical Behavior posted at Driving Results Through Culture. His post was prompted by the World Economic Forum session in Davos, Switzerland last week. The founder, Klaus Schwab, was quoted as saying that the global economic crisis was prompted by excesses – and that the Davos session would focus on ethics and moral behaviors by economic and political leaders to serve society more fairly. His focus in the post is that ethical behavior starts with each of us, and by following a simple ethics check we can “hold our heads high” at the end of each interaction, each day.

Robyn McLeod presents 7 questions you must answer to strengthen your great idea posted at Thoughtful Leaders Blog. A client shares a set of powerful questions from the R&D world that will resonate with anyone who wants to get their great idea the attention it deserves.

Steve Roesler presents Where You Decide To Perform Matters posted at All Things Workplace. Everyone is talented in some way. Whether or not you are a star depends on where you choose to perform.

David Burkus presents The Least Important Question in Leadership posted at The Leader Lab. Won’t spoil it here – but the post is really about the question behind that question. Curious now?

Dan McCarthy presents A Performance Management Model posted at Great Leadership. Dan has developed A Performance Management Model as a follow-up to his recent “Are You Managing or Just Nagging?” post. Check it out and see which quadrant you’re spending time in: Managing, Avoiding, Nagging, or taking a well deserved Vacation.

Jane Perdue presents 5 reasons it’s OK to say “no” posted at LeadBIG. Telling people “no” doesn’t make you unlikable. Failing to say “no” when it’s appropriate to do so makes you a doormat. And the really ugly kicker here is that saying “yes” doesn’t necessarily make you likeable.

Nick McCormick presents Hiring People that Fit Your Culture posted at Joe and Wanda on Management. The key to hiring good people is to hire those that embody the unique attitudinal characteristics of your organization.

Anna Farmery presents Why Predictions Are Not Just For Christmas! posted at The Engaging Brand. Leadership is not about predicting what will happen; it’s about being prepared for what might happen, which means being open to diverse opinions on that very topic.

Jennifer V. Miller presents 7 Questions That Help Conversations Move Forward posted at The People Equation. If you are having the same conversations over and over with your employees, you’re probably having the wrong conversation. Here are seven ways to get unstuck from the “conversational mud”.

Guy Farmer presents If You Don’t Have Something Nice to Say… posted at Unconventional Training. Many leaders miss a golden opportunity to lead more effectively when they don’t communicate in a nice way.

Chase Dumont presents What is Leadership? The Definitive Answer posted at Chase Dumont, Rainmaker. Rulers, philosophers, and corporate middle managers have been defining and redefining leadership for millennia. In this post, Chase outlines 8 keys to leadership, with concrete examples to arm you with an unbeatable – and practical – understanding of how to lead.

Mary Jo Asmus presents 20 Things To Stop Waiting For posted at Mary Jo Asmus. A checklist of actions leaders do to create positive change.

Scott Eblin presents Is Being the Go-To Person Holding You Back? posted at Next Level Blog. Being the go to person is a great thing for leaders to be until it’s not. In this post, Scott Eblin offers tips and a video coaching segment for leaders who want to shift from being the go to person to someone who build teams of go to people.

Erin Schreyer presents A Loss for the Broncos, A Win for Tebow’s Leadership posted at Leadership. Life. Legacy. Whatever your opinion on his beliefs and the way he shows them, Tebow demonstrates 4 solid characteristics of leadership that are worth reflecting on.

Image credit: Great Leadership

It’s the time for Best and Worst lists, so here are links to some I found interesting.

First up is Dan McCarthy’s January Leadership Development Carnival: Best of 2011 Edition as chosen by each blogger.

Now take a look at the companies with the potential to unseat, or at least rattle, Zynga’s social gaming crown.

Many people died last year, some famous, but many just everyday people. They were important in their own world and their stories make fascinating reading. I especially liked the story of Keith W. Tantlinger; few have heard of him, but he profoundly changed our lives.

At the other end of the 2011 spectrum are the Worst CEO Screwups along with the Worst CEOs.

Are you familiar with the Pogie Awards? They “celebrate the best ideas of the year: ingenious features that somehow made it out of committee and into real-world products, even if the resulting products aren’t that great.”

I get really sick of all the lousy ads, especially those for drugs. Ugh! That said, I do enjoy good ads, such as 2011’s top ten ads based on analysis by Zeta Interactive.

Finally, here are enough 2011 trivia questions to make your get togethers interesting for at least three or four months.

Enjoy!

Flickr image credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Northeast Region

Today includes an important (to me) question. As you know, the first Monday of each month I provide you with the entire menu from the Leadership Development Carnival as I’m doing today.

My question is this:

Do you enjoy having the entire list here or would you prefer an original post along with a link to the Carnival?

I really would appreciate your taking the time to answer in comments. Thanks!

We’ll kick off the Carnival with posts from last month’s host, Lynn Dessert, presenting Leading with your Strengths posted at Elephants at Work;

and next month’s host, Kevin Eikenberry, presenting Four Steps to Making a Complex Decision posted at Leadership and Learning with Kevin Eikenberry, saying, “As leaders, we need to be decisive and forward-moving. This post offers four steps you can try when making a complex decision.”

Anne Perschel presents Bold Because You Can Lead. Humble Because You Did Not Create the Leader posted at Germane Insights, saying, “Can a leader be bold and humble at the same time? I think so. In fact, I think it’s what’s called for. Here’s why and how.”

Gwyn Teatro presents How to Make Performance Appraisals Unnecessary posted at You’re Not the Boss of Me.

Tanveer Naseer presents Are Your Employees Mad As Hell and Not Going to Take It Anymore? |posted at TanveerNaseer.com.

Wally Bock presents The Joy of Helping posted at Three Star Leadership, saying “The best bosses revel in helping others succeed”.

Mark Stelzner presents Two Easy (And Legal) Ways to Gather Competitive Intel posted at Inflexion Point.

Michael Lee Stallard presents Develop the Heart of a Champion posted at Michael Lee Stallard.

William Matthies presents Instead, How About . . . posted at Business Wisdom: Words to Manage By, saying, “Part of executive development is recognizing the development that has already occurred.”

Guy Farmer presents Soft Skills Training and Foundation Building posted at Unconventional Training.

Jennifer Miller presents Tag-Team Workplace Coaching posted at The People Equation saying “This is a story that shows that sometimes the best workplace coaching comes from someone other than a person’s boss”.

Janna Rust presents Procrastination and Productivity posted at Purposeful Leadership, saying, “What are you procrastinating with right now? Have you ever thought about how it affects you? Read on to learn how procrastination might be killing your productivity.”

John R. Turner presents Lewin and Historical Traces to Change Management posted at JohnRTurner_HPT_resource.

Linda Fisher Thornton presents Leaders & Social Media: 5 Reasons to Engage posted at Leading in Context LLC.

Bob Lieberman presents The Can-Do Attitude posted at Cultivating Creativity – Developing Leaders for the Creative Economy.

Jesse Lyn Stoner presents Be the Boss You?d Like to Have posted at Jesse lyn Stoner Blog.

Jim Taggart presents The Rise of Tiger Business Women posted at ChangingWinds, saying, “At present rates, it will take about 150 years before women and men are equally likely to reach middle management. And a century and a half is an eyeblink compared with the eternity it would take to achieve this benchmark in senior management”

S. Chris Edmonds presents Three Steps to a Bully-Free Workplace posted at Driving Results Through Culture

Mike Henry Sr. submitted Leaders: Your emotions are contagious – Lead Change Group posted at Lead Change Group Blog, saying, “Author Christina Haxton makes a great case for how a leader’s emotions affect the entire team. She also provides a practical 4-step process to make a change in your attitude.”

Bret L. Simmons presents Inner Work Life posted at Bret L. Simmons.

Mary Jo Asmus presents Letting Go of Your Need to be Right posted at Mary Jo Asmus.

David Burkus presents Freedom to Fail posted at LeaderLab, saying, “this post explores how good leaders give their team freedom to fail.”

Sharlyn Lauby presents Abdicating Your Leadership Role posted at hr bartender, saying, “There’s a big difference between delegating and abdicating.”

Jane Perdue presents Go ahead – try something new! posted at Get Your Leadership BIG On!

Ben Brabyn presents Leadership as storytelling – how narratives bond teams posted at Ben Brabyn, saying, “How leaders can use storytelling to bond high performing teams.”

Art Petty presents Art’s Weekly Leadership Message: Step Up to Cure Effective Dialogue Deficit Disorder posted at Management Excellence

Guy Harris presents Three Power Phrases to Disarm a Verbal Aggressor posted at Guy Harris: The Recovering Engineer, saying, “How do you respond to coworkers or colleagues when they are verbally aggressive? Here are three phrases that might help.”

Heather Stagl presents Six Roles of a Leader During Change posted at Enclaria LLC.

Michael Cardus presents Planning; Nothing Magical Just Your Work posted at Create-Learning Team Building & Leadership Blog, saying, “Within all parts of your work YOUR knowledge and thinking must be part of the plan. No technology or rote process can give you the “correct” plan – BUT a solid process for planning can guide you to the best plan for your team and you. A plan is a judgment about the best way to go about achieving an intended goal.”

John Hunter presents Rethinking or Moving Beyond Deming Often Just Means Applying More of What Dr. Deming Actually Said posted at Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog, saying, “This post takes a look at how Dr. Deming’s ideas apply to management issues today.”

Eric Pennington presents The Role of the Corporate Rebel posted at Epic Living – Leadership Development Career Management Training Executive Life Coaching Author, saying, “In this post, Eric Pennington, articulates the importance of the corporate rebel and how they should be imbraced. The post also points to the brilliant work of Lois Kelly.”

Miki Saxon presents Entrepreneurs: Responses to “What Do You Say?” posted at MAPping Company Success, saying, “Longer term focus or more expedient approach? Although participants were all startup founders the discussion and conclusions are applicable to any manager who hires.”

David Zinger presents The 10 Things Managers Must Do to Increase Employee Engagement posted at Employee Engagement Zingers, saying, “Very popular post on 10 actions based on evidence that managers can take to increase employee engagement”

Nick McCormick presents Managers, Brainsteer Your Way to Breakthrough Ideas posted at Joe and Wanda – on Management, saying, “Managers are always on the look out for new ideas. Shawn Cyne, Author of Brainsteering, tells us to forget the brainstorming. It’s much more effective to direct our creative energy by Brainsteering. Listen in to the Management Tips podcast find out more.”

Adi Gaskell presents Keeping in touch with ex companies posted at Adi Gaskell says…, saying, “An article on the importance for both ex-employees and their previous employer of keeping in touch through corporate alumni networks.”

Erin Pavlina presents How To Handle Public Criticism posted at Erin Pavlina – Spiritual Wisdom for Conscious People.

Utpal Vaishnav presents Know how to walk first, running comes later. posted at Utpal Vaishnav, saying, “If the piece of music isn’t right, it doesn’t matter what else you do, you cannot perform in the live show. Practice matters. More important is: right kind of practice.”

Dana Theus presents Business Leaders – What Don?t Your Employees Tell You? posted at Reclaiming Leadership, saying, “If you’re not hearing the truth from your employees, who are you hearing it from? To get them to speak the truth, be willing to hear it.”

Lahesha Williams presents 8 Tips on Improving Your Chances for a Promotion posted at Career Help For Christians, saying, “It’s never too early to think about promotion. In today’s job market you need to be ambitious and driven if you don’t want to get pushed out by others who spot gaps that could have been filled by you.”

Lakshman Rajagopalan presents What can you do about a culture of Mistrust… posted at Learning Curves.

Lyn Boyer presents Healing the Wounds of Change posted at LynBoyer.net, saying, “this blog deals with what leaders can do to recognize and deal with fear of and resistance to change.”

Henry Mukuti presents 5 Qualities of leaders and motivators part 1 posted at standout tall and be counted.

Sean Glaze presents What Emergency Brake Does Your Team Need To Let Go Of? posted at Lead Your Team, saying, “Team leadership Involves helping your team to identify the baggage that they need to let go of in order to become more productive together…”

Lisa Kohn presents There is no try, only do. There is no do, only be. posted at The Thoughtful Leaders Blog, saying, “How many of us have heard, “There is no try, only do”? Lisa Kohn of Chatsworth Consulting Group adds one more element to that famous phrase and talks about the importance of “BE” instead of “DO”.”

Rebecca Kearley presents This assault on workers rights will kill innovation | Professional Manager posted at Professional Manager.

Anadi Upadhyaya presents Is there a magic pill to fix behavioral issues at work? posted at TalentedApps, saying, “Just having a right prescription is not enough until you put it into action.”

Nick Thacker presents Productivity 101: Every Time You Sit Down, Make Something Happen posted at Nick Thacker, saying, “A simple concept for getting more done in the day-to-day life of a business professional.”

Don’t forget to tell me which you  prefer, the whole Carnival list or an original post.

Image Credit: Great Leadership

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

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

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

It’s actually pretty simple,

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

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

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

Leadership

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Coaching

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

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

Management

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

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

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

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

Image credit: Great Leadership

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

Aisle One: Pens and Pencils

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

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

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

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

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

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

Aisle Two: Paper Supplies:

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

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

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

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

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

Aisle Three: Backpacks:

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

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

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

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

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

Aisle Four: Electronics:

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

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

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

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

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

Aisle Five: Snacks:

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

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

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

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

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

Aisle Six: Textbooks:

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

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

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

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

Image credit: Great Leadership