Category: Leadership Made Simple

Book is Published!

I wanted you — my long-time blog subscribers — to be the first to know that the book I’ve co-authored with former colleague, Kelly McCleary, You Are Born to Lead: Reflect, Adapt, and Make an Impact Right Now, is now published and available for purchase in print and Kindle formats on Amazon.com! This has been ...

Big Questions, Simple Answer

Publishing update: We are currently working on the Kindle (eBook) conversion of the printed book, You Are Born to Lead. Stay tuned! The below might be helpful to you in the meantime. Often when I was an HR lead, managers and executives would ask big questions like, “How do I get people to change more quickly?” ...

“They Just Get It” Method of Putting the Right People on the Bus

One time while interviewing with an executive leader, I referenced meeting next with X leader on his team. The executive’s reply was, “Oh, good. He gets it.” Later in a more casual setting, I asked this executive what he meant by, “X gets it.” Actually, I did see what he meant after meeting with this person. ...

Improve Leadership Ranks With This Simple Change

Organizations go to great lengths to help managers improve their leadership skills. This perpetual gap may be the single biggest organizational challenge of our time. Imagine the positive impact to organizations if we figure this out! Why the continued gap in leadership skills? In my lengthy HR career, I have found that often people seek ...

Three Steps to Jump-Start Any Team

The beginning of a newly formed team represents such a big opportunity. New teams could include situations like: New leader to an established team. An existing team is asked to take on more responsibility. Leader wants to redirect an existing team. New team and leader for enterprise process or other change. Department team assembled to ...

Be Shocked By What You Accomplish With This Simple Method

There isn’t a lot more you can say about the New Year holiday that hasn’t already been said. However, one concept is worth repeating every year: choose some goals. We are in a constant state of contradiction. There is a part of our brain that strives for homeostasis, to have things stay the same, tied to ...

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http://hbr.org/2013/07/connect-then-lead/ar/1

http://hbr.org/2013/07/connect-then-lead/ar/1 Excellent article on influence — in this case, the delicate balance of being liked and showing strength and why the former is more important.

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Turn on the Light

No matter who you are or what job you have, there’s a leader in you. However, sometimes leadership stalls between who you are and what others see. What do others see in you? One might call this self-awareness. I call it self-management. With the goal of being adaptable for anything that comes your way, knowing ...

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Find Your Way Home

Have you ever gotten lost before? Most people have, such as, taking a wrong turn when driving somewhere. Others have been REALLY lost, like in the wilderness on a hike, or a long camping trip. One thing is true in either scenario: staying lost is not an option. You have to find your way back: ...

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3 Tips For Being More Strategic, Starting Now

In the last post about strategic thinking skills, no places have been more important for strategy than in chess and war. In those contexts, strategy intended to render opponents useless. Somehow, that made its way into corporations, where also through strategy, we wage a different battle with products and services. Just as humility, integrity and ...