Every leader (and organization) has its strengths. Where do the strengths serve well? Where do they incur costs? I led the following awareness-building exercise with a team of leaders at a manufacturing organization. You can try it with alone, or with your team. Leadership Quality Awareness Exercise Think back on all the leaders you’ve ever … Read more
When was the last time you were in a meeting, and heard the presenter say: I know this next slide is an eye chart, but… And then you see something like this:Your eyes scan the page, but can’t stop moving.Your head starts to swim.You get nauseous.You want to run from the room screaming.Welcome to Death … Read more
How do your customers like working with you? Customer (in this context) can be either external or internal. External customers are what we think of as the ‘traditional’ customer.Internal customers can be anyone who is upstream or downstream in the value chain: colleagues, direct reports, managers, suppliers, contractors. We all like it when our customers are easy … Read more
obesity mcdonalds walking dead bank When I first picked up my local paper last week and read the front page of the “Cities & Towns” section, my first thought was that the three finalists for Police Chief at UMASS/Amherst had to perform together playing tiny guitars.Not quite.I’d come my erroneous conclusion by connecting … Read more
You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Will Rogers As a leader, you know that first impressions matter. When take to your stage, you have less than a minute – a tiny window of opportunity-to build real rapport with your audience. If you don’t connect, the window slams shut. It doesn’t … Read more
Ken is a nice guy.Everyone says so. A senior VP of strategy at a major aerospace company, Ken prides himself on being pleasant and agreeable to work with. Ken works really hard to be nice. So what’s wrong? Being nice is killing Ken’s effectiveness and efficiency at work.It’s also impacting his team, his peers, … Read more
Guess what: You’re being watched. Right now. Is your “Game Face” on? That is, are you aware of what the people you lead see under their microscope? They’re analyzing each detail of your your behavior-looking for clues on how best to respond. Don’t take it too personally, it’s not just you. As social animals, that’s … Read more
In your leadership, how do you seek influence? Through strength? Or warmth? Research continues to mount that leading with warmth is the more effective leadership strategy. Warmth builds trust. Trust allows people to let their guard down. They’re open to the new, rather than defending the old. Warmth promotes effective communication and connection. Warmth shows … Read more
Culture is the fishbowl in which your company swims: it’s invisible, but impacts everything. Company culture is a combination of beliefs and behaviors, and is best defined as “how we do things around here”. As an external leadership consultant, I get invited to come and swim in different fishbowls every week. Sometimes the swim is … Read more
I can’t do this. I don’t know what I’m doing. This is too hard. I’m not going to make it here. I’m going to be found out. Do you have a track record of achievement, yet still hear these kind of messages running in your head? If so, you may be dealing with impostor syndrome -a … Read more
