1-Self – Bite Size Leadership

Leadership Tip: Want to Be a Bright Light in Your Organization’s Power Grid? Be Shirley!

Time to Read: 2.5 mins… Every organization has an org chart which shows the management hierarchy and reporting relationships, usually in some form of pyramid structure, which most employees are familiar with. Every organization also has a “Power Grid” which is almost never mapped out or even thought about. Yet it is the Power Grid […]

Leadership Tips: 16 Proven Ideas That Will Make Your Virtual Meetings Zoom!!

Time to Read: 2 mins… We are all continuing to learn how to conduct effective meetings online. I reached out to an expert I have known a long time for advice. Ken Loughridge is a highly skilled project management executive based out of Christchurch, New Zealand. Ken has led a variety of remote teams both […]

Leadership Appreciation: Thank You for Leading!

Time to Read: 1 min… Most leaders get limited recognition for all the effort they put into making their team and organization more successful. Employees look for and expect to be appreciated for their contributions but somehow forget to do the same for their boss.If you have been looking for some love, here are some […]

Leadership Tip: Why Asking “Why” May Not Produce the Results You Want

Time to Read: 1.5 mins… The question “why?” has an inherent accusatory edge. When confronted with “Why did that happen? or “Why did you do that?” people tend to become defensive and try to avoid being blamed for something that may not be their fault. The answer they want to give is “I dunno!” […]

Leadership Tip: Are You Ready To Go?

Time to Read: 1 min…In a recent Time magazine article, Congresswoman Katie Porter was described as “Fully prepared. Ready to go. Leaning forward.” One of her former law students said, “She’s unwilling to let a teachable moment pass. She didn’t treat her students any differently than she treated a CEO in front of Congress. She […]

Leadership Tip: “Do You Like Working Here?”

Time to Read: 1 min… Ever notice how you don’t notice things until you have particular interest that comes up? Like thinking about getting a new car and you consider Mini Coopers – suddenly you see Minis all over the road. It’s like that for me with leadership. I’m constantly noticing examples of good and […]

Leadership Tip: What To Do with Your Blunders and Absurdities

Time to Read: 1 min… In this post, I thought I’d share with you a bit of wisdom I have on display in my office as a personal reminder:“Finish each day and be done with it.You have done what you could.Some blunders and absurdities have crept in.Forget them as soon as you can.Tomorrow is a […]

Leadership Tip: What Are Your Spheres of Influence?

Time to Read: 1 min… We all have them. Everybody is part of several spheres in which they have influence. Definition: “a field or area in which an individual has power to affect events and developments.”The most obvious area is at work where, as a leader, you have direct influence over those who report to you. […]

What Leaders Can Learn from Goldfish and Rottweilers

Time to Read: 2 mins… Metaphors and word pictures fascinate me. I seem to grasp ideas faster and better when I form an image in my mind of an issue that I’m interested in. Recently I ran across two articles which used powerful images that brought recent events into sharp focus for me and made me […]

Serve Up Some Kind Words Today

Time to Read: 1 min… The following short email string, with just the names redacted, was sent by a nurse to the Lead Cook at a health care facility. The cook doesn’t report to the nurse, they just work together in each of their respective roles. But the nurse noticed and wanted to acknowledge the […]

Wisdom from a Hopi Elder

Time to Read: 1 min… A Hopi Elder tells us:“It is time to speak your truth, create your community, be good to each other.And do not look outside yourself for the leader.”Then he clasped his hands together, smiled, and said, “This could be a good time!“There is a river flowing now, very fast. It is […]

How to Lead When Everything Will Be Different – 3 Things You Can Do

Time to Read: 2 mins… A tiny virus is creating massive change. The worldwide scale and the lack of an immediate cure for COVID-19 means that our fundamental systems are being challenged and shaken. Your team, your organization, and the world around you are shifting and morphing in order to survive. Your leadership must change […]

Work From Home Tips

Time to Read: 1 min… Due to COVID-19 we all are having to make a lot of adjustments to our work and personal lives. Not the least of which, for many leaders, is having to work from home. For those who have a home office, it’s business as usual. But, for a great many people, […]

How to Lead Through Dark Times

Time to Read: 2 mins… When you are dealing with sudden changes, your people are looking for answers and support in two main areas: HEAD – what’s the problem and what’s our plan?As a leader, your people look to you to be clearheaded, have a steady hand, and show the way forward.Questions your people will […]

What’s Your Knack? – Part 1…You

Time to Read: 2 mins… Knack is a special, innate talent – something you are naturally good at.Some examples:Mary has a knack for numbers – she can look at a spreadsheet and quickly see its essence.Tim is a natural organizer of people and things.Anita’s knack is telling interesting stories that make you think.Julio’s knack is […]

Go Climb a Tree

Time to Read: 1.5 mins… Let’s say your team’s task is to cut a path through dense forest. Your job, as their leader, is to make sure 5 things happen:Support: make sure they have enough water, food, sharp saws, protective gear, etc. to accomplish the task.Training: individually, do they have sufficient skill to do their […]

Yeah-But…

Time to Read: 1 min… Happens all the time. You, or one of your team, suggests a new idea and another person immediately and assertively says “Yeah-but…”Yeah-but…We don’t have any budget for thatWe’ll never get approval to do itWe’ve always done it this wayIt’s too risky – nobody’s ever done that beforeWhat will others think?What if […]

Create an Updraft

Time to Read: 2 mins… One of the requirements of effective leadership is to provide hope and encouragement. To boost your team’s confidence and help them see the pathway forward. To create updrafts that will speed individuals, teams and the whole organization toward success. If you want to paraglide, you need an updraft to get […]

A Heartfelt Thank You to the Jerks I have Worked For

Time to Read: 2 mins… We’ve all had them. Great leaders that inspire us, stretch us, and help us achieve things we never thought we could. And…we’ve had bosses who don’t have a clue. They do things that make us slap our foreheads and go…”OMG.” You may be working for one of these jerks right now.A […]

An Extraordinary Film that Will Inspire You as a Leader

Time to Read: 1 min… Time for Video: 30 mins… Need a boost of confidence and energy? Here’s a film that I watch whenever I want to be reminded of why I chose to be a leader and what can happen if I continue to work at making my small part of the world a better […]

10 Crucial Deliverables Your People Expect from You As a Leader – Or You’re Toast!!

Time to Read: 2 mins… This post is based on an actual list of expectations 75 middle managers of a large company asked me to convey to their senior executives. The wording and the order of the 10 items are exactly in their words – I haven’t edited them. Interesting that they didn’t feel it […]

How Will You Spend the Next Hour?

Time to Read: 1 min… Every hour you spend in meetings maintaining the status quo is an hour spent as a manager. Every hour you spend enabling your people to challenge, change, and improve the status quo is an hour spent as a leader.Both are necessary. It’s a matter of priority and balance.Here’s how most managers […]

Eagle, Duck, Turkey, or Vulture – How Do You Fly as a Leader?

Time to Read: 2 mins… Leaders come in several types of feathers. Ducks are cute but paddle around in circles, turkeys don’t fly so good, and vultures are hated. Eagles, on the other hand, fly high.It’s how it is. A few leaders are like eagles – soaring and inspirational. Many are like ducks – benign, likable, appear […]

Leadership Tip: 6 Mistakes Every Leader Has Made – Even the Romans Blew These

Time to Read: 1 min… Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman statesman, orator, lawyer, and philosopher who died in 43 BC in the time of Julius Caesar. Cicero famously recorded what he saw were the six most troublesome mistakes made by humans. 1– The delusion that individual advancement is made by crushing others 2– […]

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