As the twentieth century came to a close, the industrial age ended as well. Where most employees once worked in large manufacturing firms that relied on rote tasks performed on large assembly lines – from autoworkers to assemblers in all fields, today’s workers are more likely to work in service related jobs that require diverse tasks and interaction with many … [Read more...]
Why It’s Critical to Put the Right Stuff In Front of You
A Facebook post by dear friend & mentor, Becky Robinson, caught my eye this week. Her post said: “My girls haven’t colored much this summer. Yesterday, I bought a new box of crayons. They’ve been coloring nonstop. If I had known that was all it would take, I would have bought them a new box of crayons sooner.”What a fabulous picture Becky paints! I can just see her girls, … [Read more...]
Leadership and Responsibility: What Will You Do with It?
Leadership is a popular word these days. Consultants preach it, journalists either praise it or bemoan it, companies, boards investors and customers demand it.The days when leaders were anointed at birth, except in a very few cases, are long gone. Today’s leaders may have great power… or none depending on the authority they wield. But whatever level that may be, with … [Read more...]
Three Secrets to Group Decision Making
Every time I sit in a meeting, I’m utterly fascinated by the way groups make decisions. What happens before, during and after the meeting is different depending upon an organization’s culture. I’m reminded of this during the recent debt ceiling talks … well, maybe we shouldn’t even go there.Charlie Judy, author of HR Fishbowl, wrote an interesting post titled “Stop Playing … [Read more...]
The Leadership Comb-Over: Dealing with Denial
Here is a leadership challenge for anyone who leads people: Step 1: A Deeper LookTake a look in the mirror. Take a really long look. Look deeply and intently into your own eyes. Do this for an extended period that may even outlast your normal attention span. Just stand there and look deeply at yourself. Look at who you have become. Examine the sum total of the decisions that … [Read more...]
Go For Nervous
You know that little voice in your head, the one you hear as soon as you get nervous? The one that tells you to play it safe? It lies. It tells you that you should slow down, or even stop, when in fact you might just be on the verge of an extraordinary breakthrough, about to create something truly fascinating. If your goals are comfortable, they’re not big … [Read more...]
What Does GREAT Look Like?
Last week, I spent a couple of days with eighty leaders from across my state working on defining our collective vision for the future of the state. As a part of this process, we were asked to break into groups to define what makes something "great." This may seem like a fairly easy task. But, before you jump to any conclusions, try it for yourself. Write down how you … [Read more...]
Five Disciplines of Servant Leadership
In Blanchard’s work with culture clients, a key part of a successful culture initiative is the transition of the senior leader from a self-serving leader to a servant leader. Self-serving leadership is, unfortunately, a very strongly modeled approach to influencing others in Western society. Servant leadership is gaining strength – and high-performance, values-aligned cultures … [Read more...]
SCAMPER (An Alternative to Brainstorming)
Advertising legend Alex Osborn not only founded one of the most successful ad agencies in the world, BBDO, he also coined the phrase “brainstorming” and is credited for inventing the technique. Later in his career, he invented another technique that is lesser-known, but one that is incredibly powerful: SCAMPER. This name is an acronym and stands … [Read more...]
Do You Check E-mail on Vacation?
Kevin Eikenberry published a blog post called "Secrets to a Real Vacation." In it, he offers several great questions to consider when taking time away. He also addresses the issue of how connected you can be and still have a vacation. Can you check email once a day and still feel refreshed when you return? Can you "stay closely connected" and take a vacation at the same … [Read more...]