How worried are you about finding the right people? Lots has been written about the talent shortage recently. In a recent study my state (Michigan) actually ranked as the fourth toughest state for finding talent based on a survey of employers. As I interact with...
What is within your control? A powerful question that digs through the complexity of a situation and helps us see our role in the solution. It is that simple, and not that easy. How do you, as a leader, respond to truth statements that come out of frustration, conflict, or just plain being busy? Here are three actions to consider the next time you go mining for what your team really believes. A big part of leadership is about great conversations – here are some tips to having some.
Everyone is a leader. More correctly, everyone has a chance to lead each day in all aspects of their life. It is your choice, so what is your answer? I work on helping leaders to lead more effectively, and I believe leadership is a partnership, so getting teams to work together is critical to effective leadership. Here are 5 tips for helping people manage their career and performance. The title should be – 5 Tips to help you lead from wherever you sit in the organization.
Leaders have to be empathetic, and unfortunately there is not a metric on empathy which makes it elusive and often ignored. That is until the feedback comes by key people leaving or they do not care about me/us. Empathy can be developed, and here are three things any leader can do to develop it. Great conversations start with a question, and empathy requires some great conversations.
Time has replaced money as the number one excuse from leaders for not developing their people. Here are three tips for making it happen if it truly is a priority, and one tip includes a lesson I learned parenting teenagers to help shift the conversation from excuses to reasons. I believe Learning + Doing = Growth, and here are some thoughts and resources for making that happen for you and your people around leadership and individual development.
The entrepreneurial mindset is coveted by organizations today, and is the only reason that small organizations grow through all the barriers to success. Another way to phrase it (thanks to the research of Carol Dweck) is growth mindset. What does it look like and do you have it?
Failure is painful, and yet a key part of the ‘entrepreneurial mindset’. This hit me as I tried to read a book from a speaker that gave me one of my favorite TED talks, Sherry Turkle. The book was not good in my opinion, and it reminded me of watching teams/leaders process failure. Here is one step you can take as a leader to see how your team processes failure – which will tell you how you lead through mistakes and failures.
Leadership development in any organization is pretty simple, and here are some thoughts on how any size organization can do it effectively. Hidden secret – If you are a growth focused organization you have a HUGE advantage over your bigger and slower rivals. Another hint – doing this well WILL MAKE YOU STAND OUT in the war for talent. Here are 3 tips in addition to my past trUTips on how to get started.
Leadership is about change management. Here is a story about a coach of a football program rich with tradition, and he was not successful. It had nothing to do with him being a good coach, because he has proven he is a great coach – in the right situations. Getting the most out of your talent and leading effectively is about people-centered leadership. In transition, this is even more important, and here are 4 questions to ask and a proven process for navigating that change.
Colin Powell shared some leadership lessons with me recently and here is one I took away – sometimes as leaders we need to be a buffer. Being a buffer could be protecting your ‘turf’ and it has a possibility to be so much more. It can have huge benefits to your organization if you do it well. It is the leaders job to be a buffer, and here are 3 tips to make it a way to build a healthier organization.
If you want to go fast, go Alone. If you want to go FAR, go together. All leaders, teams, and organizations will hit the ceiling if they Go Alone. It happens, and moving past it is part attitude and part practice. The entrepreneurial operating system (EOS) is a tool I use to help leaders/teams do that, and here are some key steps to starting the journey. Call it team building and leadership development using your business as the classroom.
My goal is to equip leaders to lead more effectively, and development plans are a key part of leadership and general talent development. Here is a LinkedIn article i just published and one other worksheet you might find helpful.