Snake Bit! A Case Study in Making Haste Slowly
In the heat of a crisis, as leaders we tend to want to jump in and start making decisions. The situation calls for boldness, decisiveness; now is our chance to rise to the occasion. To fail to act immediately may be interpreted as weakness. But if we act hastily we risk making bad decisions and making things worse […]
A Different View of Leadership: Not What You Might Expect
What does leadership look like? It takes on many forms. But on this day, at a major training exercise in the desert, it took on what for me was a very unexpected shape. Here’s the short story about a very different view of leadership I got when I pulled back the tent flap, and saw […]
Leading With Authority: One Way to Steadily Grow Your Influence
How can I be more influential with my team? My boss? Many of us have asked ourselves that question. Maybe you are the leader but seem to be struggling to get people to listen to you. Or perhaps you are on the team, but people aren’t listening to you when you speak. How do you get […]
Leading With a Blind Eye: Why You Can’t Ignore the Thing You Didn’t Want to See
Why turning a “blind eye” is hazardous to the health of your team In 1801, Admiral Horatio Nelson was leading several warships in a desperate fight against the Danish in the Battle of Copenhagen. His ships were part of a larger fleet commanded by another Admiral. Back in those days, commanders communicated with their fleet […]
How to use the EDGE Technique to Lead Your Team
Did you know that organizations have a life cycle? In this video, we’ll talk about what the stages of that life cycle are, and how you can adjust your leadership approach to successfully lead your team in every stage.
Managing the Boss: How to Deliver Bad News
No one likes to deliver bad news to the boss. But how you present a problem to them will have a lot to do with how they react to it. It’s more than just “managing the boss” – it’s seeing things from their perspective. Here is a way you can break the news, help to […]
Cornerstone of Leadership: What’s Yours?
The location, orientation, and strength of a building are determined by its cornerstone. And just as a building needs that firm foundation to be strong, any organization also needs a basis of strength and purpose that orients and guides its actions. These things come from its leaders. These are its cornerstone. The question is, as […]
Joining the Team: What the New Guy Won’t Tell You
We’ve all been there, but it’s funny how quickly we can forget the “New Guy” experience. Yet how you bring a new person onto the team will have a lot to do with how long they stay, and how productive they’ll be. Here are four things that the new guy won’t tell you, and what […]
How to Get Inside their Heads: Understanding the Team Development Model
Effective team development requires us to understand the life cycle of teams; here are the stages and how to lead effectively every step of the way.
How an Orange Soda Changed my World View
You never know how your actions will affect someone. Here’s something that happened to me over 33 years ago that I still remember. A simple act of kindness from a stranger changed my view of the world.
9 Leadership Mistakes to Avoid
In a recent online poll, about 1,000 U.S. workers were asked what their biggest complaints were about their leaders. Today we’ll talk about the top nine of these complaints, how they are connected, and what you can do to avoid being one of the leaders they are complaining about.
How to Respond to Crisis: Four Steps for Leaders
As a leader you will have to respond to crisis. The plan will get off track, a key person will not show up, the weather will change, key assumptions will be proven wrong. It’s inevitable. How you respond will determine whether you overcome the crisis, or become a victim of it. Today we’ll talk about four […]