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Great Leaders Learn To Delegate Well

Posted by on October 16, 2017

Great leaders have come to the realization that it is more important to develop people than it is to deliver results. This will empower their people to use their competencies and significantly increase the capacity of the organization. Empowerment is also directly linked to job satisfaction and a major factor in retention. This HBR post is excellent:

“One of the most difficult transitions for leaders to make is the shift from doing to leading. As a new manager you can get away with holding on to work. Peers and bosses may even admire your willingness to keep “rolling up your sleeves” to execute tactical assignments. But as your responsibilities become more complex, the difference between an effective leader and a super-sized individual contributor with a leader’s title is painfully evident.”

Categories: Execution Leadership Development Organizational Culture | Comments Off on Great Leaders Learn To Delegate Well

How To Effectively Manage Your Stress

Posted by on October 11, 2017

Over the years I have been able to sustain excellence in the most stressful situations. As a matter of fact, that was my greatest strength and contribution to the organization. I have noticed over the last few years that the margin I have between demand and capacity is razor thin. What used to be normal stress levels can now become overwhelming. This HBR post is very helpful:

“Jack is well-known in his company for delivering growth through high-performing, cross-functional teams. Where others get stuck in silos, he fosters innovation through collaboration. But these days, when you exit the elevator on his floor, you sense fear wafting through the halls. He’s nine months into a new role as Business Unit Leader, and a lot has changed.”

Categories: Margin Personal Leadership | Comments Off on How To Effectively Manage Your Stress

3 Ways To Help Leaders Reach Their Potential

Posted by on October 9, 2017

One of the keys to sustaining leadership excellence in your life will be the practice of life long learning. I continue to gain great value from reading books but I now find podcasts to be just as helpful. Even reading through my daily social media stream often gives me exactly what I need for that day. Michael Hyatt is a pro at leadership development:

“Years ago, I wrote a list of “100 Things I Want to Do Before I Die.” It’s really an amazing, audacious list. Whenever I review it, I am both inspired and stunned by how many of the items I have already accomplished. And yet, there is so much more. The list keeps growing!”

Categories: Career Development Leadership Development | Comments Off on 3 Ways To Help Leaders Reach Their Potential

6 Questions Great Leaders Ask Their Teams

Posted by on October 6, 2017

Effective leaders are no longer the person who sits at the head of the table and answers all of the important questions. Today the best leaders have developed the ability to ask great questions that empower other people to be fully engaged. Collaboration by its very nature requires a conversation and this Forbes post is spot on:

“It’s humbling to ask questions. After all, the moment that you ask a question is the moment you reveal what you don’t know. To some, asking questions is a death-blow to their ego, while to others, it’s a stepping stone to clarity. In fact, during research for their book The Innovator’s DNA, the authors discovered that the strongest leaders (and the people destined for the C-suite) asked questions because they were humble enough to acknowledge they didn’t know everything and confident enough to admit it.”

Categories: Leadership Development Organizational Culture Teamwork | Comments Off on 6 Questions Great Leaders Ask Their Teams

How To Truly Lead Your Life

Posted by on September 29, 2017

I often need as an executive coach to enter into conversations on all of the important differences between leadership and management. In an organization, knowing the distinctions and valuing both roles is critical. However, no one gets a pass based on a personality assessment of being the leader of their own life. This Forbes post is excellent:

“I would like to start this post with a challenge to one of our most basic assumptions. We are accustomed to thinking ourselves as individuals: as self-contained, uniform entities. I’m an individual with my own thoughts, feelings, needs, values, skills, knowledge, and talents.”

Categories: Personal Leadership Work Life Integration | Comments Off on How To Truly Lead Your Life

Why You Get Distracted At Work

Posted by on September 25, 2017

I used to love multi-tasking because it felt like I was getting so much done. That is because I falsely believed that activity equals productivity. I now totally reject that idea, unless I am working on the most administrative tasks of the day. Anything else demands blocked time for deep and sustained work. This Michael Hyatt post is great:

“It’s hard to maintain your focus in an office. With so many meetings to attend, drop-ins by coworkers, calls, emails, and countless other interruptions, it can seem like a miracle that anything ever gets done. But do you know who the biggest culprit often is when it comes to sabotaging your productivity with distractions? Look in the mirror.”

Categories: Leadership Development Productivity | Comments Off on Why You Get Distracted At Work

Five Consequences Of A Life Out Of Balance

Posted by on September 22, 2017

This may be the single most talked about topic that I encounter in all of my executive coaching. The demands of our careers leave little margin for the other things that really matter the most in life. It takes an incredible amount of character to be willing to define your own core values and then live by them. This Michael Hyatt post is incredible:

“If you are working more than 55 hours a week, you are working too much and likely out of balance. You may be able to keep this up for a season, but it is not sustainable. In fact, if you keep working so much, something will eventually break. And the sooner you come to terms with this, the better.”

Categories: Personal Leadership Work Life Integration | Comments Off on Five Consequences Of A Life Out Of Balance

Why You Should Always Lead With Your Values

Posted by on September 20, 2017

Leveraging the best productivity practices and empowering teams are great strategies to drive results. However, what we must always avoid is giving higher value to efficiency over effectiveness. This means that the Why of what we are doing will always be more important than the How. This Forbes post drives this truth home:

“A few years ago, Simon Sinek made a huge splash in the business world when he delivered his TEDx Talk, “Start With Why — How Great Leaders Inspire Action.” His claim is that every team on the planet knows what they do, some know how they do it, but very few know why they do what they do. And by “why,” he means their purpose and beliefs — the reason they exist.”

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How To Work Smarter Not Harder

Posted by on September 18, 2017

I always get caught with the tension of spending time learning some new technology that will help me and the reality of needing immediate results. However, after making the commitment to becoming proficient with some personal project management software my life is significantly more productive. I am not interested in just doing the wrong things faster and this Fast Company post hits all the issues:

“Possibly no piece of productivity advice is more well-worn than the adage, “Work smarter, not harder.” Of course, the directive points to the fact that it’s not how many hours you put in at your desk that matters—it’s how you spend your time there. In other words, get results faster and you won’t be spending so many late nights at the office.”

But what does it really mean to work smarter?

Categories: Personal Leadership Productivity | Comments Off on How To Work Smarter Not Harder

How To Stay Calm Under Pressure At Work

Posted by on September 15, 2017

We all are dealing with incredible amounts of stress at work with no end in sight. Therefore, we must learn how to turn all of that energy into effective habits that increase our productivity not minimize it. Many times the critical factor is simply our perspective about the stress and not the stress event itself. This Forbes post was very practical:

“I once had a client who was constantly frazzled with intense anxiety every time she even thought about work. It was not only affecting her productivity, but also her quality of life! We put a plan in place to help her feel in control again, and now she has a better idea of how to manage stress in the workplace.”

Categories: Career Development Leadership Development | Comments Off on How To Stay Calm Under Pressure At Work