It happened again this week. Nearing the end of a week of tough, but manageable challenges, I then faced a “whopper”. It was one of those leadership puzzles that didn’t seem to have any easy answers. And then it hit me. I needed to revisit, yet again, the “3 Buckets” of leadership solutions. Because the…
The Power of Drawing a Leadership Line in the Sand
Have you drawn a leadership line in the sand? A line in the sand where your core values intersect with real life situations. Several years ago I was called in to help turn around a non-profit organization which had been in a financial tailspin. About three months into this journey the Chief Financial Officer came…
5 Reasons Effective Leaders Never Say, “I’m So Busy”
This week I casually asked a leader how he was doing. His response? He smiled and said, “My plate is full.” I love that answer. In an age when our culture has attached a strange nobility to the notion of being “busy”, here was a leader who instead simply acknowledged that he was carrying…
So, Who’s Leading This Thing Anyways?
“So, who’s leading this thing, anyways?” The question cut through all of the noise and caused each of us sitting around the table to pause, catch our breath, and re-assess everything. At issue in this meeting of Willow Creek Association leaders, was the direction of a successful initiative. The initiative had been launched by a…
4 Risks that Exaggeration Poses to Your Leadership
It happened again this week. A leader in my orbit described a meeting as “Quite possibly our best meeting ever.” Really? As soon as the words were out of his mouth the thought flashed through my mind, “I need to keep watching my own communication for any signs of such exaggeration.” How many of these…
