Leadership is all about making decisions. But before you can make the call you need clarity on whose call it is to make. Several years ago a previous organization I led had partnered with another organization to present a leadership conference. The schedule was set to go all day Friday and all day Saturday. But noticing that there…
3 Ways You Can Win in Leadership, Where No One Loses
If you believe someone else needs to lose in order for you to win, you’ve missed the whole point of leadership. Leaders are driven to compete. But for many leaders, that drive to compete is squandered by applying that competitive energy in the wrong direction. In my days as a marketing consultant, I worked with…
3 Proven Ways To Avoid the Perils of Clipboard Leadership
Leadership is about producing results, not reports. If you’ve ever encountered a leader who seemed more interested in inspecting activities than in inspiring results, you’ve encountered Clipboard Leadership. Clipboard Leadership is one of the most demotivating forms of authority you are ever likely to encounter. Clipboard Leadership emerges when the need for reports begins to…
How To Transform Your Leadership With 5 Simple “To Do” Items
Self-leadership requires self-evaluation. Leaders must be able to end their day, look back, and know with certainty whether or not this was a good leadership day. That means having a “to do” list that reflects priorities worth pursuing. It means knowing exactly what comprises an effective leadership day; it means understanding the elements that work…
Is Optimism the Worst Way To Lead? Here’s How to Tell
As a leader are you supposed to be an optimist, a pessimist, an idealist, or a realist? The answer is “yes”. The key is knowing when to be which. This is not about being inauthentic. The reality is, in some circumstances a leader must be a grim-faced pessimist, while in others it requires being a…