Too many people fail to overcome resistance and start moving forward. Instead of heeding Drucker’s advice, fear rents space in their minds, creating a never-ending litany of excuses that help ensure that their feet remain firmly planted in place.
Unlike the resolutions that so many of us make in January and discard just as quickly by February, our own professional development requires a deliberate and consistent effort to improve. Here are 7 ideas to help you stop running in place and start moving forward.
The odd quirk that seems to bedevil so many who occupy roles of responsibility for others is their overwhelming urge to tell other people what to do. While a certain amount of “telling” is OK, particularly during crises and anything involving safety or security, for the most part, your communication efforts should focus on listening and asking. Starting this year, shift the focus to you and your role and your daily habits, and for everyone’s sake, quit telling people how to do their jobs. Here are 9 ideas to help you in this endeavor.
I was truly gifted in 2011 to gain access to and work with and support some remarkable professionals across a number of different market segments…from high tech to professional services to manufacturing, and I learned something with every engagement and encounter. Here are Six Lessons Learned that Can Help Us All in the New Year:
When we focus on not failing, fear rents most of the space in our mind, and we see monsters in need of slaying everywhere we turn. We lose track of the original vision that propelled our actions, and the sheer act of working becomes at best a passionless exercise and at worst, drudgery. Here are some thoughts as you head into the new year on rediscovering your sense of purpose in the workplace.
I’m as guilty as the next person of finding the impending resetting of the calendar a cathartic cleansing, where the failures of the past year are suddenly washed away and replaced by the empty and unknown space filled with promise and time stretching out in front of us. There is something remarkably powerful and alluring about the chance to start-over, right wrongs and vow to do things right the next time around. Resolutions start out as good intentions early in a new year and often end up as regrets later. As a leader, you cannot afford to fall victim to the boom and bust cycle of annual resolutions. Here are eight key questions to resolve about your own leadership practices.
With my sincere thanks for your readership during this past year, I wish you nothing but the best during the holidays and for the new year. I'm taking some time with family and look forward to renewing our pursuit of management and leadership excellence in 2012!
Given the state of things in our world, perhaps for just one season, Dickens’ ghosts can shift their attention away from Scrooge and focus on a few of those truly deserving characters hiding in positions of leadership inside our organizations and governmental institutions. Here are just a few of these characters in need of a visit from the Leadership Ghosts of Past, Present and Future:
It’s all too easy for us to get caught up in the political swirl and self-limiting behaviors that characterize the culture of many of our organizations. It’s a mistake. We have to learn to fight the gravitational pull of malaise and mediocrity that pervades our teams, or we risk being part of the problem.
Our intrepid Leadership Development Carnival host, Dan McCarthy of Great Leadership fame, has for this month passed the hosting/producing baton to Kevin Eikenberry and Becky Robinson at Kevin's Learning & Leadership blog. They are adding their own unique twist by dividing up the many submissions into several different mini-Carnival postings during the week. I encourage you to check out the posts, bookmark or subscribe to Kevin's blog and make certain to make a return trip through the Carnival Midway this week.
