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The Leadership Caffeine Blog

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Join the Management Excellence Newsletter List And You Might Win A Book!

Dec 12, 2009

Note from Art: this is shameless promotion and good clean fun. I’m working hard on extending the variety of vehicles that I publish original leadership and management content in, and the Management Excellence e-newsletter is soon to launch. I would love to have you as a subscriber and this is a fun way of stimulating some subscriptions.

First some background, and then the promotion description. I’ve long threatened to start an e-Newsletter, but have been short on execution. A good friend of mine recently referenced it as my “Unicorn” project…something frequently talked about but never seen.

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My Personal Journey Towards Building Better Leaders

Dec 2, 2009

Note from Art: I’m taking time out from my usual blogging activities today to share with you a bit about the background and approach of my new program and website: Building Better Leaders. After conducting more discussions than I can count with professionals in product management, project management, marketing, new first-time leaders, those interested in leading, technical professionals thrust into leadership, I decided to create something that would solve the problems of: practical content, cost, access, sustainability and guidance. Enter Building Better Leaders.

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Leadership Caffeine™: A Leader’s List of Thanks-Giving

Nov 22, 2009

Note from Art: I’m getting a jump-start on my Thanksgiving post in the hope that you have the opportunity during this holiday-shortened work week to reach out and say “Thanks” to those that you have the privilege of leading and serving. Here are my thoughts on what a leader should be thankful for:

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Leader, Who’s Sitting at Your Table?

Nov 19, 2009

Once again, Mom is proven right. You become the company that you keep. Surround yourself with intelligent, aggressive individuals comfortable in professionally articulating their perspectives and taking accountability for both their words and their actions, and you will flourish.

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Getting Out of Your Own Way

Nov 17, 2009

Almost without exception, the primary reason for sub-optimizing in your career and in life can be seen every morning staring back at you in the mirror. Notice that it’s not your boss, your spouse or significant other or your parents or friends. It’s you. How do we overcome our own “going through the motions” inertia and reach or return to a level of high performance?

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Leadership Caffeine™-Don’t Wait for the Title to Start Leading

Nov 15, 2009

The time to start leading is now, long before anyone has bestowed the title of leader on you. Much like the famous trio of Scarecrow, Lion and Tin Woodman of Oz-fame, they didn’t really need the Wizard to bestow a brain, courage or a heart, and you don’t need someone to anoint you as a leader before you can start learning and practicing. The great news is that today’s organizations are filled with opportunities for you to easily and informally develop both your leadership and your followership skills.

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Finding Your Extra Performance Gear

Nov 12, 2009

I know a great number of people working hard and digging deep to find that extra-something inside that will allow them to push through the almost overwhelming challenges on the path ahead. While none of the people that I’ve spoken with in the situations described above are resting easily, to my observation, they share a stubborn commitment to persevering in spite of the fact that the road ahead seems to be unpaved, uphill and against the wind the entire way.

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Two Voices-Humility and the Effective Leader

Oct 28, 2009

One of the true joys of my blogging experience comes from meeting and collaborating with some remarkable people. Mary Jo Asmus is one of those remarkable people. We collaborated a few months ago on Two Voices on: The Words of a Leader, and enjoyed the experience and the reactions so much that we vowed to do it again.

Well, we’re back. Mary Jo reached out to me a few weeks ago and raised the topic of “Humility and the Leader,” and we were both so interested in exploring this issue that we went off to our separate corners and the output is reflected in the two posts below. While the posts don’t necessarily reflect a point-counterpoint perspective, they do bring two unique perspectives to what turned out to be a challenging issue.

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Leadership Caffeine™-Engage With a Purpose

Oct 26, 2009

A fair number of leaders that I encounter are busy floating along on the current created by the urgent daily events in the workplace. This never-ending flow of “stuff to do” numbs their leadership senses and dulls their performance edges as weeks and months and quarters give way to more weeks, months and quarters. It’s like sitting in the leadership equivalent of a lazy river at the local water park. It’s time to quit doing everything and getting nothing important done in the process.

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Examples in Effective Top Leadership-The Ambassador

Oct 24, 2009

In contrast to last week’s Effective Top Leadership feature where I focused on an example inside a multi-national firm, this one is squarely in the small business category, topping out at about $20 million in annual revenues. While it was not a large firm, this organization and its founder left an indelible impression on customers, employees, suppliers and the southeastern U.S. communities that the firm served.

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