I’m a big fan of questions to help us learn, grow, plan and succeed. So I regularly take time to sit down and ask myself a series of questions to gauge my progress on a goal and evaluate my efforts. For example, here is a question stem I revisit at least several times a year that forces me to really think about my role as a leader: What is my contribution? What is the … [Read more...]
Eradicate Your Obstacles With This Thinking Game
Would you like a way to get better ideas, faster? Would you like to nearly automatically tap into your subconscious brain to help you solve your vexing problems? Would you like a tool that would help your team think more clearly? What if I told you that tool was free, except for the five minutes of time you had to invest? But rather than thinking about it like a … [Read more...]
Olympic Lessons for New Leaders
The 2016 Olympics officially started on August 5, and much of the world is entrenched in the games. While some people watch for the pageantry, the human drama, the patriotism or the actual athletic competition, I believe there is another universal and more useful reason to tune in: to be inspired by others' achievement. The human interest stories give us the backdrop. The … [Read more...]
4 Lessons Leaders Can Learn From Camels
Let me start by saying I am not a camel expert. Some of what I know about camels, I have learned from reading throughout my life. Some I learned while talking with people who know more about them than I do. I, however, have become more interested in the animal since I actually rode one. As with everything I do in life, from that experience, I drew some powerful leadership … [Read more...]
Is Your Team Truly Prepared?
The quote to the right couldn't be more true. While it is spot on for everyone, it is especially true for leaders. Some (relatively small) percentage of the population is naturally inclined to plan, but most of us just aren’t. So people's (including yours and your employees') first inclination in the face of a new project or challenge is to jump right in and "get to … [Read more...]
6 Ways to Nurture Professional Relationships
As a new leader, how much time do you spend each day building, nurturing and maintaining professional relationships with upper management? Your coworkers? What about your employees? Too many people reach a leadership position and decide to focus only on building relationships with those people up the ladder or on the same rung as them. They seem to think that their new … [Read more...]
The Power and Pitfalls of Competition
Admittedly, I am a competitive person in just about every facet of life. Ask those who’ve known me my whole life and you might even hear some stories of competitive board and card game play that I’d prefer not be repeated. While I was taught to be (and think I mostly am) a good sport, my focus was most always on winning. And looking back, I can point to both the power and the … [Read more...]
What Should you Optimize? Define Good Work
This is a guest post by Tom Cox, leadership consultant, author and speaker. One of the most common, and tragic, causes of poor work performance is that everybody assumes the definition of "good work" is obvious, so nobody ever seeks explicit agreement on what it is. When the boss (that's you) doesn’t define "good work," things can get bad. For example, I live in Oregon, … [Read more...]
5 Ways Leaders Can Declare Their Independence
Here in the states we're preparing to celebrate Independence Day. So if you are from the United States, I wish you a Happy Independence Day! However, even if you aren't from the USA, I want to encourage all of you to officially declare your independence as a leader (even if you are new to it)! What do I mean? After all, as leaders, aren’t we actually pretty dependent on our … [Read more...]
10 Roles Every Leader Must Fill
Most leaders aren't ready when they step into a leadership role, so if you are feeling out of sorts, don't worry just yet. Everything takes time. Instead of worrying that you will never get up to speed, focus your energy on improving. Here are the 1o roles every leader must fill (even the new ones) that are most important to the success of the team and organization as a … [Read more...]