The secret handshake. For years this covert means of greeting has enabled those on the inside of an organization to privately recognize one another, while ensuring that outsiders were not included. While most teams do not have a literal secret handshake, many have unknowingly adopted practices that are just as secretive, and just as mystifying…
The Character Crisis that can Chase People Away
Have you ever found yourself being led by someone whose leadership you just couldn’t stand? Ever been around someone leading the charge who just completely rubbed you the wrong way? What were the characteristics you found so difficult to work with? During a leadership coaching session Global Leadership Summit founder Bill Hybels addressed this question.…
5 Dangers of Fire-Drill Leadership
“All hands on deck!” “Emergency meeting!” “Everyone into the conference room, PRONTO!” These shrill calls can create tremendous urgency, even excitement in an organization. I call this “Fire Drill Leadership”. Everything seems like an emergency. But the best leaders I’ve known keep these fire drills to a bare minimum. Because they know that, overdone, keeping such a…
The 4 Questions Leaders Ask to Turn a Failure Into a Learning
“Let’s put this into our learning bucket, and move on.” If you’re a leader you have no doubt uttered this phrase when a project has not achieved its goal. But to truly put a failure into the learning bucket requires more than just a slogan. The reality is, the most effective leaders know that translating…
The 5 Classic Signs of a Secure Leader
It remains one of my favorite leadership quotes to this day. “A lot can happen when you have an insecure leader. None of it very good.” That bit of leadership wisdom has helped to guide my leadership for years, and formed the basis of this blog post, “The 5 Classic Signs of an Insecure Leader”.…