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…
This Is What Leaders Do When The Dogs Start Barking
At the first signs of trouble, the first steps you take are the most important steps you’ll take as a leader. This is called “walking towards the barking dog”, and I learned many years ago that this is an instinct that’s vital for leaders to develop. When confronted with an actual barking dog, the instinct…
Why You Need To Know Which Team You’re Really Leading
Every leader leads two teams; there’s the team you inherited, and there’s the team you built. This key truth has been one of the most important lessons I’ve ever learned with respect to team leadership. The team you inherited were already in place before you showed up. They had been assembled by your predecessor, and…
10 Qualities of the Leaders I Want on My Team
Who do you want on your team? What are the qualifications and qualities of the people you want sitting around your leadership table? If you were to make a list of the attributes you would want on the members of your leadership team you would likely include such characteristics as: Go-getter. Someone who ‘makes it…
3 ‘Secret Handshakes’ Leaders Must Eliminate
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…