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.”
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.”
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.
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.”
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’!”
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!”
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.
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.
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.
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”
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!
Welcome to the May edition of the Leadership Development Carnival!
For those of you that may not be familiar with the Carnival, here’s a refresher:
1. A blog “Carnival” is typically a collection of recent blog posts organized around a common theme, in this case, leadership development. Although there are lot’s of places a reader can go to get aggregated free content these days, my readers still seem to appreciate the monthly Carnival collection. Bloggers like them because it’s an opportunity to reach new readers.
2. I’ve been hosting the Carnival for a few years, and for the last couple years, have shared the hosting responsibilities with other bloggers.
3. I have a mailing list of over 60 leadership bloggers that I know and respect that I go to each month and ask for their best recent post. I usually get about 30-40 posts, that are sometimes organized around a theme.
4. I’m always looking for new contributors – if you are interested, send me an email with a link to your blog and I’ll consider adding you to the list. I’m at danmccarth at gmail dot com.
So here’s the May edition – no theme – just all good stuff!
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!”
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.
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.
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.
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”
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!
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.
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.
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.
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)
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?”
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.
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.
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….
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?”
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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…..
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…
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”.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Forwardposted atThe 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”.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.”
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”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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”.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.”
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.
Entrepreneurs face difficulties that are hard for most people to imagine, let alone understand. You can find anonymous help and connections that do understand at 7 cups of tea.
Crises never end.
$10 really does make a difference and you’ll never miss it,