In our world of constant change, there are (at least) nine critical skills that leaders and professionals at all levels must cultivate to succeed:
Leadership Caffeine™: Nine Key Skills Demanded By Our Times
read more
The Leadership Caffeine Blog
Guest Post: Building High Performance Teams with Heart
The best teams I’ve been a part of had something beyond high performance—they had heart. When the chips were down, these teams pulled together and delivered against the odds with brio. High performing teams with heart have a tremendous will to win, learn from failure, think hard work is a blast, trust their leaders, and never burn out. In this post, I’ve tried to distill the leadership behaviors and strategies I’ve observed throughout my career that create the kind of team dynamic that boosts performance to the highest level.
When did Passion for Your Work Become Passé?
Run a search on current business clichés or phrases to avoid and you’re likely to come across a number of references to the word passion. The writers tend to be passionate about the fact that passion is a term to avoid on your CV, during interviews and in other business references. Is it out of style to be vocal about your passion for your work, your profession or your firm?
Decorum, Drinking and the Company Holiday Party
It’s time for my annual Scrooge-like post on how a few drinks at the wrong time can damage credibility and derail your prospects. This is a season filled with potential social traps and ripe with opportunities for awkward moments as we blend the ever-present and oft dreaded holiday event with the opportunity to drink with coworkers. Here are at least 6 big reasons to hold back at the office holiday party:
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:
It’s Your Career—Seriously, Why Should Your Boss Invest in You?
Certainly, no self-respecting, capable manager ignores the professional development components of her role. However, I can tell you with near certainty, that your manager is much more interested in investing in you if she sees you investing in yourself. Why not give her some reasons to help you stay ahead of the game. Here are six ideas that just might convince the boss to invest more in you:
The Feedback Series, Part 4—Opening the Discussion
Most feedback discussions succeed or fail in the opening sentence. You have a chance to engage the receiver and build value or, point a finger and make the discussion feel like an indictment. Here are 6 suggestions to help you get the feedback discussion started on the right footing:
It’s Your Career—A Guide to Becoming a Better Employee
It’sYourCareerWhile guidance on developing as a leader is plentiful…perhaps in over abundance, there’s relatively little in the daily flow of business and management writing devoted to developing as an effective employee. For just a few minutes, let’s turn the world of leadership and management advice upside down and take on the perspective of the boss and what she’s looking for from you as a member of her team. Here are 10 things the boss is looking for from effective employees:
Just One Thing—Leader: To Thine Own Self Be True
I was struck by the simplicity and power of an observation from one of the (early career) participants in a recent leadership program of mine. After studying different styles and approaches and examples of leaders, he indicated that he was walking away from the program with a sense that there was no one style he was required to emulate on his path to leadership success.