Book Notes: South – The Endurance Expedition
In 1914, 28 men sail from England to attempt what no one has ever done: traverse the Antarctic continent from one side to the other. But soon, disaster strikes. Their ship, the aptly named Endurance, is trapped in the ice, then crushed, leaving the explorers stranded on the polar ice cap with no way home. What […]
What is Referent Power and How do I Get Some?
How can referent power make me a better leader? Did you know that Nike pays Michael Jordan $50-60 million a year to sell shoes? Wanna know why? Two words: Referent Power. Take a likeable, successful person, have them endorse a product, and suddenly sales go up. Why? Because people identify with that person, maybe want […]
Coercive Power: Is the Benefit Worth the Cost?
Ever known someone pulled over for speeding? Chances are they knew what the speed limit was, but thought they wouldn’t be caught. The benefit of having traffic laws is to promote safety on the highways. But there is a cost to enforcing the laws, just as there is always a cost when using any force. […]
5 Ways to get Information Power Working for You
In one of the Austin Powers movies, Dr. Evil devises one nefarious plot after another, only to have his side-kick tell him that his plans won’t work because he lacked some critical piece of information. In frustration, he laments, “OK, people, you have to tell me these things, all right? …Throw me a bone here. […]
Expert Power and What to do if you Don’t Have it
As a leader, chances are that there are people on your team who know a lot more than you about what your group does. They have Expert power, yet you are supposed to be in charge. Want to know how to work with these people? Here are five things you need to know about expert […]
Legitimate Power: 6 Things You Need to Know
Legitimate Power is the first and most commonly recognized source of power that people think of when they think about where a leader’s power comes from. But if your leadership is based solely on the fact that you wear a special patch or there’s a certain job title on your office door, you will quickly […]
Six Power Sources for Leaders: Which ones do You Have?
One of the keys to effective leadership is understanding where your power to lead comes from. Merely occupying a position with “leader” in the title doesn’t make people want to follow you. But if you know what does get people’s attention, you will have a much better chance of leading your team to success. By […]
Book Notes: Turn the Ship Around!
Recently while researching leadership topics, I came upon an interesting video on YouTube. In it, author L. David Marquet, a retired U.S. Navy Captain, relates how he turned the Navy’s conventional leadership paradigm on its head, and in doing so ended up not only becoming a better leader himself, but leaving a powerful legacy of better leaders […]
Eight Ways to use Reward Power that Don’t Require Cash
Reward Power is one of the best ways for leaders to influence people to move in the direction they want. Most people tend to think of this power of reward in terms of money, and money can be a good tool. But often there isn’t much to give, and surprisingly, it is often not the […]
Leadership Movie Recommendations
Movies are a great way to see leadership in action. Whether they are depicting real events or following an original story line, watching how leaders form teams, overcome obstacles, and ultimately forge groups of people who are able to work together to accomplish great things can be both entertaining and inspiring for any leader. [In the […]
Building Trust: Six Building Blocks
This video takes a close look at one of the basic building blocks and most essential element of Leadership: Trust. Using rockets as a metaphor, we explore the six critical components of trust, understand why building trust is important, and introduce some ideas about how you can work to build on these components to become a […]
How To Delegate, Part 1: Why?
There are five reasons why a leader may fail to delegate work; understanding them for what they are is the first step on the path to learning to let go and start to delegate effectively. Key to the process is changing how you think about delegating – if you are “dumping and running” then you’re […]