I want to live my life on purpose. As part of my on-going attempt to do so, each year about this time, I look back at the previous twelve months. This assessment, if done well, can inform my decisions about the upcoming year. However, every annual review also surfaces gaps in my life and leadership.
The sign of a professional is someone who makes the difficult look easy. This can be said in many walks of life. It can also be said of leaders. Have you ever seen a leader who was able to bring out the best from every member of his or her organization and make it appear effortless? I have…
Virtually every leader has a natural bias… we are either more results-oriented or relationship-oriented. However, the best leaders discipline themselves to value both results and relationships. If your natural tendency is to focus on results, one small step you can take to raise the value of relationships is to stop and say thanks.
Every follower deserves a leader who can actually lead. As important as it is to Start with the Heart, leadership character alone is insufficient. Last week I began to unpack the four critical domains of leadership beginning with our ability to Lead Self. Today, we’ll focus on the one which gets the most attention – the skills needed to lead well.
Every journey has a beginning. Although many of you have been on your leadership march for a long time, others are fresh on the trail. Regardless of where you are on your timeline, there are four arenas which require your attention and ultimately your mastery if you want maximum influence and opportunity.
Every great leader is on a journey – a long, never-ending quest to serve and grow. Have you ever given much thought to yours? If you have, and you are like most of us, you realize your path has been challenging, exhilarating and even frustrating at times, but it has certainly not been a straight line.
People do not follow leaders they do not trust. If you and I are trustworthy, we’ve jumped a significant hurdle on the path to effective leadership. It we are not seen as trustworthy, no amount of skill will suffice. If your heart is not right, no one cares about your skills. Today’s Challenge question is… How do you build trust?
What do you talk about at work? Recently, I’ve come to appreciate how many conversations I have every week about leadership issues… dozens, scores – probably thousands of these discussions over the past decade. This week, I’ve been in four conversations about the value and imperative of a leadership pipeline – and it is only Tuesday!
Last week, Royal Dutch Shell abandoned a 9-year, $7 billion effort to find oil in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea. The decision was made in the face of tumbling oil prices and unrelenting pressure from environmental groups. The decisions you and I make are probably not of this magnitude, but in our world, no less important.
Leaders face obstacles daily, and often, we may not even think much about it. Challenges are just part of what we do. But what about a new leader, what issues does he or she face? Today’s Challenge question is from a leader who writes: What mistakes do you see new leaders make that could be avoided?