The Leadership Caffeine Blog

Explore by Category:

Leadership Caffeine™—Navigating a Leadership Slump

Leadership Caffeine™—Navigating a Leadership Slump

Organizational life is wearing on us, and for those charged with leading and guiding others, it’s natural for fatigue to set in on occasion. However, if the fatigue lingers, you might find yourself facing a leadership slump. Here are four big ideas to help you navigate a leadership slump.

read more
The Leadership Opportunity—Incredible Adventures in Creation Ahead

The Leadership Opportunity—Incredible Adventures in Creation Ahead

There’s the practical dimension of leading where we focus on the grind-it-out, get-things-done-through-others heavy lifting. However, there’s a higher-order opportunity with this work. The leadership opportunity is truly about the potential to create by working with the ultimate medium: the ideas and efforts of others.

read more
Leader: It’s Time to Develop Your Listening Muscle

Leader: It’s Time to Develop Your Listening Muscle

One of the root causes of communication failure in the workplace is our inability to listen effectively. We’re typically distracted by our own thoughts, striving to multi-task, or, we annoyingly step all over the messages of others. However, we can improve our listening skills, and in the process, solve more problems and build performance. This article offers nine ideas to help strengthen your listening muscle.

read more
A Framework to Help Managers Develop Emerging Leaders

A Framework to Help Managers Develop Emerging Leaders

There are few activities in our organizations more important than developing emerging leaders. A healthy, full pipeline of leadership talent is essential to sustain success and navigate a complex world. The Foundation + 4 Pillars framework helps guide managers in pursuit of this critical work.

read more
Why Many Leaders Feel Like Misfits and What They Do About It

Why Many Leaders Feel Like Misfits and What They Do About It

When you sign-on to lead, you turn in your “one of the gang” membership card. This can lead to feelings of disconnectedness and what I term: leadership misfit syndrome. Here are four ideas to help you move beyond this syndrome and strengthen your engagement and enjoyment of your role.

read more
Leaders—Beware the Image You See in the Mirror

Leaders—Beware the Image You See in the Mirror

Leaders too often exist in a bubble of their own creation. They view their actions and utterances through their own filters and fail to take into account how they are perceived by others. Objects staring back at you in the mirror are not always as they appear.

read more
Developing the Whole Leader—The Clinic Approach

Developing the Whole Leader—The Clinic Approach

In a world where our organizations face a chronic shortage of leadership talent to navigate uncertainty and change, it’s time to rethink our approach to leadership development. In this article, I suggest an alternative approach, the clinic model for leadership development. Consider this more a “What if?” prompter on finding new ways to address the whole-person and to integrate and sustain development over time.

read more
Leadership Caffeine™—Your Curiosity is Contagious

Leadership Caffeine™—Your Curiosity is Contagious

Too many managers and organizational leaders emphasize answers and directives over questions. You are leaving performance and innovation on the table if you do this. Instead, know that your curiosity is contagious and start leading with open-ended, thought-provoking questions.

read more