Got Self-Awareness?
“Wad some Power the giftie gie us, To see oursels as ithers see us, It wad frae mony a blunder free us…” OK, so if you don’t speak Scots, you might need a little help with that. What Scottish poet Robert Burns, whose 259th birthday is being celebrated today by Scots and their descendants around […]
Assume Positive Intent
In April, 2008, as part of a Fortune Magazine segment in which notably successful people were queried about the best advice they had been given, Pepsico Chairman and CEO, Indra Nooyi volunteered a nugget given to her by her father: “Assume positive intent.” At its core, Mr. Nooyi’s knowing advice to his daughter capitalizes on the positive expectancy […]
Becoming a Two-Fer Leader
As managers we are responsible for seeing to it that the right things go well. That involves keeping extraneous things off our team’s plate, putting more W’s than L’s on the scoreboard, and finding ways to identify and correct (or prevent outright) the things that contribute to team losses. Looking back over my career, and […]
Making No Decision is a Decision, and Usually the Wrong One
Last week I spoke for a group of college students in a management course. Corresponding with a chapter of the text currently being studied in class, the subject of my remarks was, “You Get Paid to Think.” As a contemporary template for encouraging the class to do exactly that, I challenged them to assume the position of the […]
Three Things Leaders Can Do To Earn the Benefit of the Doubt
When I begin a new executive coaching engagement, my due-diligence process usually involves conducting focused interviews with a representative sample of my client’s peers, direct and indirect reports, other close associates, sometimes their spouse, and of course, their reporting senior. One of the questions I ask is, “Does this person enjoy the benefit of the […]
Three Ways You Might be Undermining Employee Engagement
We won’t bore you with yet another recitation of Employee Engagement stats. They’re ugly. And it’s costing businesses worldwide more than anyone can afford. Way too few people are excited about their work, and the organizations and people they work for. And it shows. Before (but not in place of) worrying about what you’re doing to increase […]
Recognizing and Dealing with Gross Leadership Failure
Often there comes a time in the history of an enterprise when a designated leader has lost the followership of those they are responsible for leading. Followers don’t believe what he has to say, don’t feel he has their best interests at heart, they see her holding herself to a lower standard than everyone else, […]
Keeping Some of your Powder Dry
When coaching those who are new to a leadership role, one of the top five items we deal with pertains to the advisability of keeping some of your “powder” dry. Translation: Your role vests a certain amount of authority in you to use positional power in order to get things done; power to decide, to […]
Preventing the Next Uber Dumpster Fire
Nobody in their right mind flies an aircraft, rewires their home, performs surgery, goes skydiving, or engages in many other activities without the benefit of training and/or certification. And if we cared about someone, we wouldn’t stand idly by while they attempted such an endeavor. So, why in the hell do investors and boards with […]
Be Quicker and More Courageous in Dealing with New Hires
Whether one works in the public eye or not, somewhere in the 50 to 100 day window after a person has started a new job, people around them are forming some pretty strong impressions about whether or not “this dog is going to hunt” as they say in Mississippi. I’ll let you in on a […]