As a parent of infant children, bath time taught me a few leadership lessons. My method of framing the choice of ‘Easy Way’ or ‘Hard Way’ has found its way into my coaching practice and in my own roles as leader, father, and friend. Here are some tips on facing these challenging intersections as a leader and individual.
Leadership is often about hope, especially in times of change and uncertainty. How do you harness the power of hope when leading? Create a hope formula and build a hope-filled leadership strategy.
Leadership development is about honest conversations, that lead to thoughtful actions, and improved performance. It rarely starts with the DO of practice, but the DO of observation. Here is what I mean by that.
It is great to have a goal of Fierce or Crucial Conversations – but while the skills are critical for leaders, the success of implementing this work rests largely on your ability to create the time to practice them and get better. The one-on-one is a critical place for this work, and here are some Johari Window videos that will help you look differently at this time. Talent management is about great conversations – and great conversations are honest, result in thoughtful actions, and ultimately lead to improved performance.
Leadership is about having honest conversations. The skill of being able to handle difficult conversations (conflict, differing opinions, accountability) is one of the most critical skills for a leader. Fierce Conversations and Crucial Conversations are great books, and here is another offering – a video by Ash Beckham. Talent management is about great conversations, this will help you have more of them.
How many times have you walked into a situation as a leader, parent, or friend and heard a mountain of excuses and nothing got fixed? We know the impact of an excuses, but how do we get to a different outcome? Talent management is about having great conversations, and having those conversations requires us to manage ourselves well and maybe make some changes on how we manage others. Here are two practices this week to focus on.
Talent management starts with what we will commit to doing and making sure we have what we need to be successful. These are also the building blocks for teamwork. Seth Godin paints a great picture of teamwork and how to get past disagreements. Here are a few more questions to help you use these to solve your disagreements and move the work/the team/your contribution forward.
A key piece of talent management is an individual development plan. Yet so few people have them, and something has to change because it is one of the most critical pieces of the process of helping someone get better. What if we called it an individual development story? When we call it a story the elements we look for and the roles we offer become clearer and expected. Talent management is about great conversations. An individual development story has all the makings of a great conversation.
Talent management is about great conversations. This is the third post around Jodi Glickman’s book Great on the Job, which is full of useful tips for doing well at your first job. While it is written for people staring careers, it is also a great resource for leaders. This post explores the area of feedback and how we get/give it well.
Happiness research tells us it is not the big things, but the cumulative effect of little moments that matters. If we impact each other in positive ways, then lots of good things happen in our teams and our business. Fridays are not the only day to smile, but a good day to try some purposeful things to impact the lives of others. This is talent management, and it is fun.
Small words that have a big impact – BUT / AND. A cornerstone of leadership development is communication, which is part what we say and part getting people to listen. Talent Management is about conversations that happen and are healthy exchanges. One of these words sets a healthy tone for an exchange, and the other too often shuts it down.
Professional development and talent management is often focused on the skills we need at work. Many of those same skills apply to our lifes/roles outside of work. I was reminded of that recently when I went to a parenting seminar and learned something that most leaders need to know – managing conflict and teaching your children to do it well.