The Leadership Caffeine Blog
Donuts and Other Insights on Teaming from the Latest Leadership Caffeine Jam Session
Our March Leadership Caffeine Jam Session (recording here) was all about finding the magic with teams. As usual, the chat stream commentary from our attendees was fabulous. I’m sharing some insights from this 50-minute session. (Note: If you’ve not heard of or...
Donuts and Other Insights on Teaming from the Latest Leadership Caffeine Jam Session
Our March Leadership Caffeine Jam Session was all about finding the magic with teams. As usual, the chat stream commentary from our attendees was fabulous. I’m sharing some insights from this 50-minute session.
Leadership Caffeine™: In the Face of Strong Headwinds, Learn to Tack
We face dozens of moments every day where instinct tells us to turn straight into the wind and apply brute force to solve problems, resolve squabbles and keep people moving. Sometimes, our instinct is wrong. Instead of offering a quick solution or mandating an end to squabbling, effective leaders adjust their course by learning to tack. Here are 5 ideas to help you learn this valuable skill when facing significant headwinds in the workplace…
Trust, Performance and Your Success
Much of who we are and what we do in our professional lives is built on an unforgiving foundation of trust. Trust is hard earned and those bestowing trust do so slowly, carefully and tentatively, all the while testing for reasons to pull back and guard this precious personal asset. True trust is rare in the workplace. It’s also critical for high performance.
The Millennial View: Why Job Hunting is Like Dating
Job searching is like dating and I can relate to these feelings because for the past couple of months I have been trying to transition into a new career. It hasn’t been easy and sometimes it feels like I stand a better chance of scoring a date with Katy Perry than I would to land a new job – ok I’m exaggerating. Here are four thoughts on why job searching is similar to dating:
Leadership Caffeine™: Motivate with Context
We waste fortunes inside our organizations on misguided programs and oddball incentives, seeking ways to motivate and inspire people to work hard, innovate, create, care and to live up to their potential, when the real solution is literally on the tip of our tongues. Here are 5 ideas for curing Context Deficit Disorder:
Trying Not to Fail Is Not the Same As Striving for Success
There’s a definite difference between focusing on not failing versus striving for success. Somewhere buried beneath the baggage and stress of the past few years, you had a sense of purpose that fueled your efforts. Whether it was providing for others or an intense desire to change the world, it’s important to scrape off the muck and recall that sense of greater mission.
Leadership Caffeine™: Is it Time for a Leadership Break?
If you’ve been in a formal leadership role for awhile, it’s healthy to assess whether the stress fractures you are feeling or showing, might just be in need of some healing time. Here are 5 questions and answers that might suggest you need a leadership break:
Leadership Caffeine™: Making Time to Glimpse the Future and Re-Think
As technology finally begins to catch up to our long-standing vision for how it can positively change our work lives and our businesses, it may just be time for us to rethink our stone-age approaches on how we work. If you’ve not pushed yourself to explore the new tools, and if you are responsible in some form or fashion for pushing the envelope on how your firm competes in the market, engages clients and arms its people to win, it might just be time to spend a few minutes focusing on the future.
#FollowFriday The Blog Version: Two Pros Worth Following
I most enjoy connecting with individuals who motivate, inspire, encourage, challenge and generally push us to think and act in ways that make us better as professionals and as human beings. Mom’s old advice of, picking the right crowd to hang around with, was spot on.
I thought it might be nice to share a few thoughts beyond 140 characters from time to time on some remarkable individuals worth following. I look forward to continuing this process and helping us all live Mom’s advice!
Leadership Caffeine™: Coping with Workplace Critics
I’ve yet to accomplish anything worth a damn when I didn’t have a fair number of critics lined up and all too happy to tell me why I was out of my mind. It’s a fair bet you’ve seen this before as well. In my experience, the more audacious and creative the idea, program or strategy, the more vocal the critics become. Here are five ideas to help you cope with the worst of your workplace critics.