How do we access the power of purpose in our role when many above and around us might not be playing with the same sense of motivation? Here are some lessons from some great managers about finding and harnessing the power of purpose in their work. Read and think about how you might put their ideas to work.
Our mistakes in pursuit of learning are the burpees, extra gym time, and leg days of our mental fitness for most of us. For those where mistakes are measured in cost or time (not life impact or safety), your mistakes measure how hard you are pushing yourself to grow. Here are ideas to turn your misfires into gold.
I’m on record describing one-on-ones as some of the most valuable real estate on a manager’s calendar. These sessions are opportunities to engage, share ideas, identify plans to eliminate obstacles and frankly, in this stressful world, just connect. Unfortunately, from my workshop and client surveys, the manager and employee one-on-ones are some of the most frequently canceled meetings. Here's an easy to remember formula to help you design one-on-ones that work for everyone:
The best managers are devoted students of the art of character study—not out of some desire to play armchair psychologist, but rather out of the desire to help.
Our March Leadership Caffeine Jam Session was all about finding the magic with teams. As usual, the chat stream commentary from our attendees was fabulous. I’m sharing some insights from this 50-minute session.
If you are interested in taking that next step as a leader, it pays to silence the outside voices and spend some time mining your experiences, influences, and aspirations.
As you search for new resolutions and ideas to grow and strengthen in your leadership role in the months ahead, here are seven things I encourage you to stop.
I run the 3-hour Feedback Skills Boot Camp program six times per year, and in every session, I’m reminded how motivated good managers are to find ways to both praise and encourage growth with their team members. Here are some of the key insights shared by the most recent cohort:
There's a simple, powerful exercise you can run with your group that will transform the working environment for the better and provide you with the critical framework for coaching you've been lacking. You need to Write the Rules for Success with your group.
Creativity—the ability to look at complicated situations and identify novel solutions that solve problems, advance initiatives, or rewrite old rules—may be the most critical skill of all in our workplaces. As leaders, we need to foster it, stimulate it, and do everything we can to ensure we're not the ones suppressing it. Sadly, creativity is something that many leaders trample all over in their daily activities.
