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The 6 Fundamental Skills Every Leader Should Practice

Posted by on October 24, 2018

I have been studying and practicing leadership principles for over 40 years. There have been many improvements and innovations recently to address the challenges of collaboration and disruption. However, the basics remain the same and you must practice and share them with your team:

There’s an old story about a tourist who asks a New Yorker how to get to the storied concert venue Carnegie Hall and is told, “Practice, practice, practice.” Obviously, this is good advice if you want to become a world-class performer — but it’s also good advice if you want to become a top-notch leader.

Over the past year we have been writing the HBR Leader’s Handbook — a primer for aspiring leaders who want to take their careers to the next level.

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How To Stay Positive In Dark Times

Posted by on October 1, 2018

I am no stranger to social disruption because I grew up during the 1960’s, one of the most painful decades in the life of our country. However, I will have to admit that the sheer volume and bitter rancor that we saw last week was in many ways even more stressful. When I get to this point of feeling overwhelmed with negative inputs, I have to go back to the basics and thats exactly what this Forbes post does:

“We are living in tumultuous and divided times. It can be difficult to stay positive in spite of all of the depressing news around the world, the overt ignorance and prejudice that have been resurrected by the populism that has resurged in the west. It can feel like the world is regressing in real time after years of progress. The future looks pretty bleak, and that we are sacrificing longer term interests and goals for short term political benefits of the party in power, consequently creating a worse quality of life for future generations.

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Build Self-Awareness With Help From Your Team

Posted by on September 26, 2018

The whole concept of self-awareness lends itself to the idea that it is something we should and can know about ourselves from within. I have recently began to understand that the other critical piece to this concept is the awareness and alignment with how others see us as well. This HBR post was excellent:

‘There are lots of compelling reasons to build a better team. Great teams deliver stronger results, faster. They’re more innovative. They challenge you to learn more quickly and to be at your best. And, let’s face it — they’re simply more fun to work with.

Recently, I found a new reason to build a better team — to address the fact that most of us are surprisingly lacking in self-awareness. Researcher and author Tasha Eurich uncovered this disturbing statistic through her multi-year study on the topic of self-awareness: 95% of us think we are quite self-aware, but only about 10-15% of us actually are.’

Categories: Leadership Development Teamwork | Comments Off on Build Self-Awareness With Help From Your Team

Why Creating Instant Momentum Is Key To Reaching Goals

Posted by on September 24, 2018

I cannot begin to remember all of the times I have developed great ideas with clear direction only months later to realize nothing happened. Many other times, I have started but never seemed to be able to keep moving forward with clear progress. This Forbes Coaches Council post was very helpful:

“Dreams are very fragile things. When you’re inspired by the possibility of an idea, unless you take immediate action, your dream will fade, and you’ll regret it forever. On the contrary, if you overthink or over-plan something, inertia sets in, and you never get started. You talk yourself out of taking action.”

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How To Increase Emotional Intelligence On Your Team

Posted by on September 21, 2018

The subject of emotional intelligence is moving its way to near the top of the priority list for all great leaders to master. From my perspective it includes how clearly we see ourselves and does that awareness align with how other people see us as well. This post by Michele Markey was well worth the read:

“Companies place a lot of value on the abilities and skills employees bring to the workplace, but it’s important that we focus on being human as well. People naturally desire to connect and interact with other members of their teams, and successful businesses have figured out they must have employees who not only bring their intellect to the job, but also their emotional intelligence.”

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Five Great Leadership Practices

Posted by on September 19, 2018

Leadership is a life long journey where we reinforce the basic principles we already know and constantly add new ones that will help us be more effective. This Forbes post hits on all of the critical practices that should be in the tool box of every great leader:

“Who is a leader? Although the concept of leadership keeps evolving over the years, one thing stays true: We’re all leaders. You don’t need 10, 20 or 100 people on your team to be a leader. You’re always leading at least one very important person: you. And if you’re ready to hit your biggest goals and put your life and business on the fast track to success, you need to be more than just a good leader. You must learn to be a great leader.”

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7 Reasons To Own Less

Posted by on September 5, 2018

I encounter a lot of stress not only in my own life but especially with the executives I coach through my company. One of the self inflicted wounds in this overload world we live in is caused by the demands our stuff places on us just to maintain what we already have. I did not have the wisdom or courage to do anything about this on my own but with down sizing our home, I am now a true believer. This Forbes post is worth the read:

“Ten years ago, I decided to embrace minimalist living. I was spending too much of my life caring for possessions and I was wasting too much money managing and accumulating things I didn’t need. Those possessions were not bringing me joy or lasting happiness. They were keeping me from the very things that did.”

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How To Overcome 6 Major Decision Making Obstacles

Posted by on September 3, 2018

This Fast Company post was very timely for me because I have been dealing with a major decision. Almost every issue discussed in this article, I dealt with in some form or another. At the end of my struggle, I was focused too much on potential long term consequences rather than the short term next steps. Confirmation will come later but now is the time to move forward:

“Deciding on key investments in your company over the next year may seem like a wildly different thought process than deciding where to take your family on vacation. However, a recent study published in the journal Science indicates that your decision-making approach for each may be similar and based on your willingness to take responsibility for others.”

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How To Spend Time Wisely And Get Things Done

Posted by on August 31, 2018

I spend more time and research on productivity than any other leadership discipline. The reason is I find myself with more inputs every week and therefore it becomes even harder to get the most important work done. This applies to how I spend both my personal and professional time. This Forbes post did not disappoint:

“The CEO of a Fortune 500 company with an overloaded schedule and a college graduate procrastinating about starting a business each get 168 hours per week to spend as they see fit.

Some people are able to accomplish a lot from Monday to Friday (or to Sunday if you count weekends) while others struggle to get much done at all.”

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How To Deal With Disappointment

Posted by on August 29, 2018

Great leaders are always taking risks and experiencing failure. The reason they have this ability is because they have learned how to process their failure quickly by learning form their mistakes and then trying again. You cannot lead others if you do not possess the courage to move on from disappointment. This HBR post was very helpful:

“Someone once said, “Expectation is the root of all heartache.” The quote recognizes that when we experience disappointment, our hopes and expectations are out of line with reality. We all feel this way from time to time. Some of these disappointments will not make much of a difference, but there are also disappointments that can change the course of our lives.”

Categories: Leadership Development Personal Leadership | Comments Off on How To Deal With Disappointment