While we don’t stop on a daily basis to consider the long-term implications of our decisions, the best leaders understand their decisions create ripple effects in the lives and careers of others. You don’t know it at the time, but you are painting a picture…a mural trailing behind you in your decisions. If you are going to lead, make certain it’s a beautiful mural.
Enough with the false dichotomy between managers and leaders. Our priority must be to teach, coach, and inspire our managers to lead from day one. While those on the front-line live closer to the work of the organization, leadership behaviors are every bit as essential (maybe more so) for success as they are for those operating higher up the organization chart. Start developing your managers as leaders!
Success with the work of strategy demands hard work and the irreplaceable ingredient of leadership courage. It is this courage that allows management teams and organizations to ask and answer the hard questions critical for survival and renewal.
One of the most effective leaders I’ve worked for used his natural curiosity to infect us all with a sense of wonder, exploration and experimentation. Yet our practices in organizations today often stifle or manage curiosity out of the equation. Ironically, curiosity might just be that key ingredient required for survival and success in our era of change.
Building high performance teams is a critical part of a leader’s job. However, when you build the team without clarity and commitment for the mission, watch out for these 5 painful leadership lessons:
I hate learning about interesting leaders once they are gone. The same goes for remarkable musicians, except the musician’s output lingers, potentially inspiring new generations. The leader’s wisdom fades along with those they touched directly. Here’s some wisdom worth passing on via your own actions:
Enjoy those days when all seems to be good in the universe. Just watch out for that reality check about to blindside you!
The general guidance on building effective teams is right, it’s just often not specific enough. Here are 4 keys to building your great team that don’t get enough consideration in most workplaces:
There’s no shortage of those in leadership roles who might reasonably be described as mundane. They focus on performance, but fail to inspire the pursuit of potential. That’s too bad, because there’s nothing secret or particularly difficult about pursuing extraordinary as a leader. Small changes in behaviors have the potential to yield big outcomes.
Time is the true source of wealth in our world. The average life expectancy is less than 3 gigaseconds. How are you using your time to impact those you encounter?
