“Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.”
– John Wooden
Leadership can be like learning to ride a bike: at some point you have to climb on and give it a shot. A few falls are inevitable, but there are skills and techniques that will make the process less painful. On this page, look for tips, tricks, and ideas about improving your leadership skills so that you do less falling, and more flying.
No one likes to hear that they are not doing well, have weaknesses, or are not measuring up in some way. As leaders it often falls to us to give this kind of feedback to others, and those can be difficult, uncomfortable conversations. But what about receiving critical feedback? Most …
Seeking Discomfort: 7 Ways to Embrace Uncomfortable Feedback Read More »
How can asking questions be more powerful than answering them? In the effort to demonstrate our worthiness to lead, often we find ourselves in a hurry to provide answers. People want guidance, direction, and need to understand priorities. But if we’re playing the Shell Answer Man all day, we miss …
The Power of Asking Questions: 7 Ways Questions are More Powerful Than Answers Read More »
Why should anyone listen to you? If you’re trying to lead people, one of the first challenges you face might be just getting them to listen. This can be doubly challenging if you happen to be newer to the team or younger than the others. When it comes to getting …
Getting Them to Listen: How to Get People to Hear What You are Saying Read More »
She started her own business late in life and turned it into a multi-million dollar enterprise. She donated millions to worthy causes. She was once named the most outstanding business woman of the 20th century. Much of her success was the direct result of good old fashioned hard work and …
What if that carrot we offer actually slows them down? In the effort to motivate our teammates, we are quick to offer carrots we think will incentivize them to greater efforts. But as this story of the Soviet Union’s most prolific athlete shows, sometimes our incentive system can do the …
Could Your Incentive System Be Hindering Performance? Read More »
How do you improve your team with an After Action Review? The After Action Review (AAR) is a deceptively simple yet powerful way to stimulate the growth and performance of any group of people. As an organizational learning tool it has been used to transform small teams and entire armies into …
What skills does an introverted leader need to develop? Statistically, about half of us tend towards introversion (I’m definitely one of them). That fact doesn’t exclude us from being effective leaders. In fact, many of the traits associated with introversion are actually strengths for someone who wants to lead well. …
Skills for the Introverted Leader: 6 Ways to Expand Your Comfort Zone Read More »
What does it take to be a great boss? Some bosses are more memorable than others, and some perhaps you’d like to forget. But what does it take to be a great boss? What distinguishes the one that people remember years later as the leader who made a difference? I …
How to Be a Great Boss: 9 Ways to Get a 5-Star Rating From Your Team Read More »
How can 80% of people believe themselves to be above average leaders? One of the many challenges of being a leader is knowing how well you are doing. Are you sinking or swimming? It can be hard to really know, and yet knowing is the key to becoming better at …
How to Tell if You Are Sinking or Swimming as a Leader Read More »
How do you lead people who aren’t on your payroll? Since moving to Minnesota, I’ve wanted to get engaged locally as a volunteer. Last month I signed up to help at a local agency, and it was a great experience. The way they worked with the volunteers made it fun, …
Leading Volunteers: How to Keep Them Coming Back Read More »
If I’m delegating effectively, why do I always seem to have the ball? We all know that as leaders we need to delegate effectively. As one boss even told me, “You have to delegate or die!” But sometimes it can seem like that ball keeps bouncing back into your hands. …
Does it sometimes feel like your attempts at leading are like, oh, I don’t know, paddling a half-submerged pumpkin down a river? Last weekend I had the privilege of watching people attempt to do exactly that. Join me for a video of what happened, and some thoughts about how to …
Keeping Your LeaderShip Afloat: 4 Ways to Get Your Head Above Water Read More »
