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
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The Leadership Caffeine Blog
Leadership Caffeine™: Cultivating the Confidence to Act
For leaders at all levels, there’s much to gain from James D. Murphy’s excellent book, Courage to Execute: What Elite U.S. Military Units Can Teach Business About Leadership and Team Performance. Of the many quotable and thought-provoking items in the book, one that jumps out at me is Mr. Murphy’s perspective on courage. His words: “…but remember, courage is not bravado. Courage is the confidence to act that comes from preparation.”
It’s the lack of confidence to act that I observe as a derailment factor for so many teams from senior levels to functional or project groups. Here are 5 ideas to help cultivate the confidence to act on your team:
Leadership Caffeine™: The Leader and Constancy of Purpose
Deming’s idea of Constancy of Purpose strikes me as perhaps the best way I’ve heard to describe that intangible but palpable drive that propels the most effective individuals and the most successful organizations. From long observation, this unyielding focus is often missing in our workplaces and in the behaviors of those in roles of leadership. Here are 4 ideas to promote focus and cultivate constancy of purpose on your team or in your organization:
Best of Leadership Caffeine™: A Leader’s Resolutions are Calendar Blind
I’m as guilty as the next person of finding the impending resetting of the calendar a cathartic cleansing, where the failures of the past year are suddenly washed away and replaced by the empty and unknown space filled with promise and time stretching out in front of us. However, if you are motivated to serve as an effective leader, you cannot afford to fall victim to the boom and bust cycle of annual resolutions. Here are six key questions to arm you with critical insights about your own performance and to help you resolve to improve your performance daily:
Leadership Caffeine™: Get Your Team Moving on Change
The Leadership Caffeine series is 200 installments strong and is dedicated to every aspiring or experienced leader seeking ideas, insights or just a jolt of energy to keep pushing forward. Thanks for being along for the journey! -- We all know that leading and...
Leadership Caffeine™: 6 Key Decision Areas that Shape You as a Leader
There are a number of decisions in every leader’s life that stand head and shoulders above all others. These are the decisions that change the trajectory of people, teams and organizations and on a bigger stage, nations. As you navigate your career and your growth as a leader, be prepared to stand up and be counted on these challenging issues:
Leadership Caffeine™—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:
Leadership Caffeine™—Too Much Time with the Wrong People
If I could have all of the time back working with poor performers, people in dire need of an attitude adjustment or, people who momentarily fooled naive, noble me into believing they wanted to change their ways, I would gladly reinvest it with those seeking to grow and strengthen as professionals. Early in my career, I believed that I could by sheer force of will turn poor performers into stars and help those with poor attitudes emerge as model citizens. I believed I possessed the leader’s equivalent of the Philosopher’s Stone and could turn lead into gold.
Leadership Caffeine™—Navigating a Truly Bad Day at the Office
A good friend and leadership mentor once offered: “you know it’s a bad day at the office when your deodorant fails by 10:30 in the morning.” Here are some thoughts on keeping it together during the really bad leadership and management days you’ll inevitably encounter:
Leadership Caffeine™—Ten Annoying Habits that Irk Your Employees
Last week, I spent some time in a post offering guidance on strengthening your performance as an employee. This week, our focus returns to the individual at the top of the food chain. If this happens to be you, your team will thank you for spending a few minutes perusing the list below and kindly stomping these bad habits out of existence.