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Category Archive: Staff Development

Leaders Trust Their People

Posted by on September 17, 2014

Back in the day of top down leadership it was assumed that the leaders had all the answers and the rest of the organization’s role was to simply execute the plan. It still amazes me in this day of high collaboration that so many organizations still dramatically undervalue their front line workforce. Ken Blanchard literally wrote the book on this subject and his example of this one company is spot on:

“In spite of competitive wages and benefits and an overall positive assessment from employees, the plant was experiencing large spikes in people leaving every summer and management couldn’t figure out why.”

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Speak Up Its Why You Are In The Room

Posted by on August 22, 2014

I can well remember the days of leadership when all the decisions were made at the top and the team was there merely to execute. Now it’s the other extreme where everyone on the team is expected to contribute to the outcome. If you have been invited to the meeting make a contribution to the conversation. Michael Hyatt gives us permission to lead:

“Are you waiting for someone to give you permission to lead, grow, or move in your organization? What if you already have all the permission you need?”

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6 Ways To Lead Staff You Don't Like

Posted by on August 20, 2014

Sometimes leading a team can get real messy. Trying to mesh so may different personalities and perspectives in and of itself is extremely difficult. Beyond that there are those few people that are good at what they do but they are hard to like. Todd Akins has some helpful suggestions:

“Some of you will be deeply offended and leave this post right after the next sentence. While you should love everyone on your staff, it’s ok if you like some people more.”

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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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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 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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8 Characteristics Of Great Teammates

Posted by on February 19, 2014

We have all worked at some point in time with both good and bad teams. Maybe we were the reason they were bad but certainly not in every case. The things that make for successful teams are well documented within leadership culture. Brad Lomenick offers some great insight:

“Reality is, we are all part of some kind of team, wherever we are in life. Family, church, volunteer, sports, business, community, social. As Leaders, it’s equally important for us to know how to follow and be a great team member as it is how to LEAD and be a team leader.

Don’t just read this but apply it to every team you are involved in. Read More …

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Leading From The Middle

Posted by on February 5, 2014

This is the position I have found myself in for the last 30 years in leadership. It can be a very hard place to be because you feel the responsibly to make both your team members and the people you report to successful. Many times their goals are not in alignment and you have to make some difficult decisions about what to do next. Brad Lomenick has some helpful insights and draws some unusual conclusions:

“Leading from the middle of the organization is tough.

Lots of responsibility, but limited empowerment. Less money, but more work. More to manage, but less training. And on and on and on. Reality is, most influence within organizations always comes from the middle, and not from the top.”

In reality all of us are in the middle we just may not know it. Read More …

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The 5 Levels Of Leadership

Posted by on December 18, 2013

There is no doubt that people follow their leaders for totally different reasons. In Good To Great, Jim Collins talks about Level 5 leaders who demonstrate high character and an iron will to get things done. Positional leadership is the weakest level of commitment and will never be effective. John Maxwell gives us another helpful model that can help us to be more effective:

“I came up with the idea of five distinct levels of leadership many years ago, and first described the concept in a book inDeveloping the Leader Within You. And in 2011, I devoted an entire book, The 5 Levels of Leadership, to exploring the levels – their upsides, downsides, the best behaviors for that level, the beliefs that help a leader move up to the next level, and how the level relates to the Laws of Leadership.”

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What If You Work For A Bad Leader

Posted by on December 4, 2013

I cannot tell you how many times I have been in this situation. Several times I reacted in the wrong way because I could justify my behavior because I was “right” after all. However, in the end if I respond in the wrong way then I am just as wrong as any leader I have disagreed with. Great post from Michael Hyatt:

“About once a week I get an email from someone who wants to know how to work for a bad leader. Maybe their boss is a jerk. Maybe he is just incompetent. Regardless, they are not quite sure how to lead well in this kind of situation.”

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