When clients describe the leader they want me to coach, they invariable use the word “smart” or “genius.” Assuming your leaders really are smart, do they also bring out the best in others? If your employees were both intellectually gifted and effective managers, your employer should be outmaneuvering competitors. Is that consistently happening? The late Stephen Covey succinctly put his finger on the conundrum: Some corporations have made hiring the most intelligent individuals a core … [Read more...]
Why Do Leaders Deceive Themselves?
The secret of rulership is to combine a belief in one’s own infallibility with the power to learn from past mistakes. ~ George Orwell As much as we'd like to believe that we're rational human beings, we can all too easily mislead ourselves. Self-deception is a process that encourages us to justify our false and invalid beliefs. Individuals, organizations and communities experience self-deception — the root of most problems, according to the Arbinger Institute, a Utah-based consulting … [Read more...]
Positive Leadership: 3 Steps to Real Results
The No. 1 reason why most Americans leave their jobs is the feeling they’re not appreciated. In fact, 65% of people surveyed said they received no recognition for good work in a previous year, according to Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton, authors of How Full Is Your Bucket? Positive Strategies for Work and Life (2004). According to newer Gallup research, what employees want most — along with competitive pay — is quality management. When they feel unappreciated and disapprove of their managers, … [Read more...]
Leading Change, What You Say Is THE Key
”No one has to change; everyone has to have the conversation.” —David Whyte Business is fundamentally an extended conversation. Whether you’re speaking with your boss, team members, colleagues or direct reports, conversations shape what gets done. The quality of your conversations matters most, providing either: Clarity or confusion Collaboration or competition Inspiration or resistance Profound connection or disengaged boredom As a leader, you must engineer conversations to … [Read more...]
A Dashboard for Managing Complexity
Leading people and organizations is fundamentally more complicated than it was 20 years ago—and it’s not getting any easier. Economic and global uncertainties, along with innovative technologies, complicate efforts to run a business. Businesses are also becoming more intrinsically complex. It’s harder to predict outcomes because intricate systems interact in unexpected ways. Interpreting data also proves more challenging because: The degree of complexity may lie beyond our cognitive … [Read more...]