The most difficult and impactful decisions in a leader’s life are the people decisions. Drawing from examples in the military, a leader has to assess whether an issue was a mistake or a lack of discipline. One merits second chances and the other demands more aggressive action. Here’s a case and outcome that illustrates the situation. How would you have handled this situation?
The quote from writer, William Gibson, “The future is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed,” always makes me pause. For anyone leading a business and engaging in setting strategy, Gibson’s perspective should be imprinted on your frontal lobe as a blunt reminder of your need to cultivate a discovery-driven culture or risk obsolescence.
David Loy, CEO of Leverage Creative Group offers up fabulous insights on personal branding, carving out your niche, developing your personal leadership philosophy and much more on this issue of the Leadership Caffeine podcast.
Instead of letting your days just happen, invest a few minutes before work to prepare your attitude and strive to succeed at every encounter. Here’s how I do it:
The question, “Do I have to be a jerk to get ahead?” is spoken out of frustration. There’s no doubt that in sharp-elbowed organizations, noisy, manipulative individuals can be the ones gaining the plum assignments and key promotions. If you want to get ahead, you don’t have to mimic their behaviors, but you do have to choose a strategy to compete. Here are some ideas to help you get ahead without compromising your values:
One of the secret joys of writing this blog over the past decade has been meeting so many remarkable and inspirational individuals in all sectors. In this episode of the Leadership Caffeine podcast, I have the privilege of connecting with one of those inspirational individuals, friend and leadership guru, author, and great guy, John Baldoni.
Every year I read Peter Drucker’s classic article, “Managing Oneself,” as part of my personal-professional career navigation process. His powerful questions and frank commentary on what we need to do in our careers helps me reorient and reset on my priorities and activities. I’ve added five questions of my own that are relevant in our emerging world.
Multi-person feedback is a tricky issue. Don’t let it trip you up and then stress the people around you. Here are some tips for getting it right:
I’m an advocate of leaders practicing Swift Trust in the workplace. Given that time-to-trust is an essential driver of time-to-performance on teams, the approach makes sense, yet it is not risk-free—it will backfire from time-to-time. Here are some approaches to help you recover when someone makes you question your decision to trust them:
There are more than a few reasons your firm or industry won’t make it through the next decade. While you won’t derail or defuse the power of the many disruptive market forces swirling in our world, it’s the lack of imagination for harnessing these forces that may ultimately relegate your firm to the business history books. Ironically, imagination may be the most controllable and most important of the tools you need to survive and even thrive in this world.
