Leadership Caffeine™—How Effective Leaders Use the Personal Pronoun “I”

Few words in the leader’s lexicon are simultaneously as powerful for building credibility and as potentially lethal for destroying credibility as the personal pronoun “I.” It works great in front of any statement where you are taking responsibility for actions or outcomes. However, place too many “I’s” in conversations that sound like, I want, I expect, I know, I did, I was right etc…and the term begins to jump out into the immediate environment with a loud bang every time it’s uttered.

Leadership Caffeine™—When a Leader Needs to Take a Break

From time to time, the hard work of being responsible for the work of others grows tiring. While much of the literature paints a picture that makes leadership sound like a calling (and for some it is), for many in roles of responsibility for teams and groups, the position was an accident, a means to advancement or something that seemed interesting at the time. Whether your issue is one of leadership fatigue or, you’re gut is telling you to stop the bus because you want to get off, it’s important to pause every once in awhile, assess your situation and either find a way to refresh and recharge, or, find a way to get off at the next stop.

Leadership Caffeine™—It’s Time to Put More Context in Your Conversations

Looking for a boost in morale and team or departmental performance? Try spending some time helping your colleagues connect their work efforts and goals to the bigger picture of your firm’s strategy. Here are 6 practices that effective leaders apply in pursuit of creating clear context for individual and team challenges:

Leadership Caffeine™—Surviving and Thriving Under Uncertainty

There are few attributes more valuable to leaders than the ability to stare uncertainty in the face and recognize it as a golden opportunity to shape and form the situation to their own and to their firm’s advantage. Here are 5 ideas to help you flip fear and uncertainty in the workplace upside down:

Leadership Caffeine™—Helping Your Team Find and Keep Focus

We all know and live with the distractions that pull us from our true priorities. From the personal issues that tug at us while we’re striving to work and live, to the endless number of workplace distractions, focus often seems like an abstract concept. Here are 5 ideas you can apply today to help your teams and team members find focus:

Leadership Caffeine™: Beware Leadership Drift

For many leaders, circumstances have an annoying habit of drawing our attention off of what we should be focusing on towards something more immediate or more novel. For anyone leading a team, this loss of focus (or loss of edge) is what I describe as “Leadership Drift.” Here are at least six ideas to help you and your team avoid the drift that can keep you from reaching your destination:

Leadership Caffeine™-Of Crucibles and Leadership Character

Two job candidates walk into a coffee shop. One has a spotless record of achievement and accomplishments and a career that runs upward like a steep staircase from early career until now. His life reads like a storybook we can all smile about and wish ourselves to be so fortunate. This is a solid professional. The other candidate’s record is good, however, there are several points in time when things went wrong... . The first candidate is compelling, but the second candidate is likely my choice. Here's why.

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