Leadership Archives - Scott Patchin

Key Leadership Skill: Sharpening the Saw or Clarity Breaks – 2 Tips to help you get started

I don’t have enough time! This is not new for leaders. Some evidence of this can be found in Stephen Covey’s classic book, ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’. Published in 1989, he pushed for people to set aside time to ‘sharpen the saw’. In EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System), we call them clarity breaks. Here are two tips I have found helpful in my own personal journey of making this a habit.

The #1 Skill Your People Need

Companies implementing EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) understand the importance of defining and executing Rocks. In my experience coaching and training leaders, I have seen importance of mastering this skill for all leaders and – more importantly – their teams. Here are some key tips for mastering the skills of defining and executing rocks.

What is Leadership: 102 Answers – What’s yours?

What is leadership? I believe it is one of the most critical questions leaders need to answer in their journey to be an effective leader. Here are 102 answers to work with, and thanks to author Lolly Daskal for pulling the first 100 together.

What book will you read or give?

A good book can be a tremendously inspirational tool, if you pick the right one. Here are some of my top recommendations to gift this holiday season, either to yourself or someone you know – make sure to plan time to read, reflect, and start setting those goals.

Leaders – Are you avoiding the hard stuff?

My data shows that 100% of the time leaders skip this assignment. What is the assignment? Sit down with one of your people and use the Team Member Fact Sheet to share some information about each other. People-Centered Leaders know the importance of knowing their team members, and don’t let the barriers get in the way of doing it.

The Book of Joy: The 20 thoughts that stayed with me

Wisdom comes in many forms. I look for opportunities to be in the room with people that are telling their story so I can listen to their words and feel their presence. The Book of Joy transported me into a room with two leaders worth listening to as they celebrated their friendship and reflected on topics I believe are critical to people at this point in our history. Not just for leaders, but for anyone who is looking to lead in their own life, regardless of their title or place.

Present and Listen: 2 Things Leaders Taught Me

Listening is a powerful tool to learn what matters to people and to test biases that exist within and around us. Here are two lessons listening taught me last week as I spent time with leaders after my keynote around strategic planning and the Entrepreneurial Operating System. Included are two powerful questions to ask yourself, challenging leaders to become and stay more people-centered.

The Trust Bank: 9 Habits That Make Deposits

The trust in your team is not defined by the big events, but by the thousands of events in between. People-centered leaders get that, and here are 9 habits that make deposits in the ‘trust bank’ so that big withdrawals can happen – and they will happen. For Entrepreneurial Operating System leaders, this is called transparency.

They’ll Love Your Questions – by my friend/mentor Mary Jo Asmus

A key leadership skill is asking questions to help people effectively solve the problems they face. Good things happen when leaders ask questions, listen, and support effectively. Learn a proven process for coaching people through problem solving from Mary Jo Asmus, a professionally certified coach and award winning blogger. These are powerful questions that people-centered leaders should have in their toolbox.

Let’s call it Trust Building, not Team Building

When I say team building, how many of you roll your eyes or audibly grown? It is a common response. Here is a story of how a challenge from a leader led me to an answer that will make team building go away and trust building take over for your team as a critical team health activity.

Social Media and Relationships: 3 headlines you will never see (for Leaders AND Parents)

Does technology improve our mental health and increase the health of our key relationships at work and at home? Here is some data meant for parents, but with an important impact on habits and key leadership skills.

Two questions to assess mindset; One question to invite a shift

Having a tough time with traction? A key leadership skill is assessing the mindset of your team. Here are some key questions based on the research by Carol Dweck and her book Mindset. It is not about being a good or bad person, it is about being effective at helping the team and company grow.