The Leadership Caffeine Blog

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The Best Of: The Difference Between Finishers and 70-Percenters

There’s a class of professionals in the world one of my former bosses labeled as “70-Percenters.” They’re the people who are great at making noise, and even getting things started, but they don’t know how to close. They’re not finishers. Here are 5 key behaviors of finishers:

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The Best Of: How to Thrive in High Pressure Conversations

Every professional faces important “moments of truth” as they navigate through their work days. Whether it’s the invitation to speak at the board meeting, the opportunity to connect one-on-one with the CEO or, a tough feedback conversation with a team member, you need to be ready to succeed in these High Value/High Risk (HV/HR) situations. Here are 5 steps to helping improve your effectiveness:

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Leadership Caffeine™—Rethinking Leadership Execution

Leadership Caffeine™—Rethinking Leadership Execution

There’s very little new to be said about what leadership IS. There is however a great deal to be said about how leadership takes place—particularly in an era characterized by what the academics call VUCA: volatility, uncertainty, conflict and ambiguity.

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The Best Of: Jump-start Your Team’s “Ideas to Actions” Machine

Ideas in the workplace that are voiced but never vetted or pursued are the corporate equivalent of those brilliant insights we have in the middle of the night that we don’t bother to write down. “I’ll remember it in the morning,” we think at the time. We rarely do. Here are 7 ideas to help you jumpstart your firm’s “ideas to Actions” machine:

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The Best Of: The Trust Building Power of Second Chances

If humans are in the picture, mistakes will occur. Whether the mistake is an error in judgment, a result of incomplete planning or, due to inexperience with the task at hand, your team members will make mistakes. Your response to a mistake sets the tone for the next stage of your relationship. Here are 5 ideas to help you move in the right direction in these emotionally charged situations:

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Leadership Caffeine™—The Hard Work of Leading Is All In Your Mind

Leadership Caffeine™—The Hard Work of Leading Is All In Your Mind

The hardest work of leading you’ll ever do is not the coaching, problem-solving, communicating and other externally focused activities that occupy your days. Rather, the heavy lifting of creating success as a leader goes on in the space between your ears. Here are 5 key internal issues every leader must regularly renew:

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Leadership Caffeine™—It’s All Practice

A few months before his untimely passing, I had a chance to sit down and talk with an individual who helped mold my own leadership aspirations and behaviors over my career. The wisdom he imparted in our all-too-short conversation would fill books on the topic of learning to lead. Enjoy!

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Leadership Caffeine™—“It’s Not What You Preach, it’s What You Tolerate”

Leadership Caffeine™—“It’s Not What You Preach, it’s What You Tolerate”

The book, “Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win,” is one of the latest additions to the growing number of books from the ranks of the warrior heroes known as Navy SEALs. This one is a keeper, with powerful lessons drawn from life or death experiences. While our workplace challenges are mild by comparison, the leadership lessons are a perfect fit for anyone accountable for the results of others.

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