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Category Archive: Leadership Development

How To Effectively Delegate

Posted by on August 15, 2014

We all fight the battle over investing the time in others vs. just doing the work ourselves. Sometimes its just a control thing and we don’t want to let go. Nothing gives you more margin as a leader than learning how to delegate. John Maxwell drives home this point:

“When it comes to delegation, many employees identify with Wile E. Coyote. One moment they feel like they’re succeeding on the job, and then suddenly their supervisor drops a huge assignment on them, out of nowhere, offering little instruction on how to complete it.”

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Leading People Who Are Different

Posted by on August 6, 2014

Leadership is not a one size fits all science. Situational leadership demands that we not only value the differences in the people on our team but we shift our leadership style to prioritize what they need on any given project. To do this consistently we need to apply the principles in Mark Miller’s post:

“Can you think of a challenging situation you faced as a leader and later you realized it was a blessing rather than a curse? Today’s question may fall into that category.“How do you lead a team with vastly different personalities?”

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6 Poisons That Hurt Your Team

Posted by on July 30, 2014

We have come a long way from the positional leader walking in the room and telling everyone what to do period. Everyone uses teams to some degree and inevitably there will be conflict. There is clearly healthy conflict and there is the kind that can hurt your team. Brad Lomenick reminds us of some clear things we should avoid as leaders:

“The right kind of tension is important for teams, as well as for individuals. It stretches and shapes and allows for growth. But there are other things that can creep into a team and poison it quickly. Things that sneak up fast and before you know it, start to define the team and take everyone off course.”

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Why Leaders Should Apologize And How

Posted by on July 28, 2014

I can remember a time in my life when I thought people who apologized were weak and insecure and now I realize its just the reverse. If your character is strong enough, you can always be ready to admit you were wrong and sincerely mean it. Cary Nieuwhof nails it on why its important and how it should be done:

“You probably have a love/hate relationship with apologies. You appreciate it deeply when others apologize to you. But you find it difficult to apologize to others. And let me guess, when you do apologize, you’re tempted to explain, justify or defend your action.”

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Quit Being A Wimpy Leader

Posted by on July 9, 2014

Of all the qualities great leaders possess courage is potentially one of the most important. Leaders must make hard choices everyday both to lead themselves and others. Its easy to let our competency outpace our character. Brad Lomenick has a great post that will challenge all of us:

“Life and leadership are a lot like baseball. Even the best batters strike out sometimes. But a true athlete, and courageous leaders, can never run away from the pitch.”

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7 Signs You're Insecure Leader

Posted by on June 30, 2014

After about the fourth job change and the same issues kept following me around I finally realized the real problem was me and not them. My character or the lack thereof had to be dealt with and my insecurities were killing me. Carey Nieuwhof has another excellent post:

“When you get to know leaders fairly well on a personal level, you realize that a surprising number admit to being insecure.

In fact, insecurity has been a battle for me over the years. I don’t know whether you ever completely overcome it, but understanding how it works and what to do about it can really help.”

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Why Leaders Have Few Friends

Posted by on June 21, 2014

We all know the value of relationships in our lives especially the few we can actually call friends. For several key reasons it seems the more leadership responsibility we gain the more friends we lose. I think Carey has some great insight:

“You’ve heard it. Probably said it. It’s lonely at the top. It’s an experience many leaders have felt, including me in seasons. Why is that?

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How To Maximize Today

Posted by on May 16, 2014

We spend so much of our emotional energy thinking about the mistakes of the past or worrying about the fears of the future that we routinely miss the gift of today. I am convinced that our personal and professional success is bound up in the whole idea of maximizing each and every day. David Hoyt has an excellent post on how he does this in his life:

“In just 2.5 weeks I turn 40. As I enter a new decade one of the areas where I’m working on being more intentional is in my daily reflection. The older I get the greater level of accountability I feel to steward my time wisely. No matter your age we all have a finite number of “todays” that we get to experience.”

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Leaders Don't Change These Things

Posted by on May 9, 2014

We live in a time of constant change and the ability to leverage change may be the single most important responsibility of a leader. However, there are some things that should never change and you must guard them at all cost. Mark Miller reminds us of some of those non negotiable items:

“Last week, I wrote a post asserting that leaders must create change. I stand by that. If you and I can’t create positive change, we won’t be allowed to lead for long. However, there’s another facet of our role. We are also the guardians for what should not change.”

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7 Quandaries Of Leading Creatives

Posted by on May 6, 2014

In our day we use teams to get things done and those teams are made up of a lot of different types of people. They all have strengths and weaknesses and you must know how to shift your leadership style to get the most out of everyone in the room. Ron Edmondson works with high capacity teams and offers some insights on working with creatives:

“Leading creatives can be difficult. In fact, I love having creatives on the teams I lead, but, honestly, they can make leading much messier. In case you’re wondering, here’s a definition of a creative:relating to or involving the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work.”

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