4 Reasons Why Questions are a Leader’s Best Friend
The best leaders wield questions precisely, respectfully and always with a clear objective in mind. Here are at least 4 reasons why questions are a leader's best friend:
Leadership Caffeine™: 6 Key Decision Areas that Shape You as a Leader
There are a number of decisions in every leader’s life that stand head and shoulders above all others. These are the decisions that change the trajectory of people, teams and organizations and on a bigger stage, nations. As you navigate your career and your growth as a leader, be prepared to stand up and be counted on these challenging issues:
A Leader’s Reasons to be Thankful
Note from Art: This is an annual post at Management Excellence, offered in the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday here in the U.S. It's a nice time for leaders to pause and recognize the many reasons they have to be thankful for the privilege of serving.
It’s Your Career—Show Your Boss You Want to Learn and Grow
An employee interested in developing is like catnip for a conscientious boss. We’ll put in extra effort to support your development; find ways to relax our training budgets to push you along, and frankly, if you are genuinely, authentically pushing the envelope on your own development, you will gain access to the challenging assignments that set people up for advancement. Here are 5 ideas to make sure the boss knows you are interested in learning and growing:
Sears CEO: “We have a profit problem.” Really?
In an article in the Sunday Chicago Tribune, Edward Lampert, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sears Holding Corp offers, "We don't have a sales problem. What we have is a profit problem, and that's what we're intending to address.” Mr. Lampert, I respectfully suggest that you have a lot of problems in your shrinking, unidentifiable former retail empire. However, characterizing the situation as a profit problem is off the mark.
Just One Thing—There’s No Such Thing as a Partially Toxic Employee
As managers, we tend to tolerate certain employees who straddle that toxic boundary, in large part, because we can rationalize their aberrant behaviors in the context of what they do well. This is a mistake with tremendous costs to the organization, team and to your own credibility as a leader.