How many times are you tempted to answer a question with a question? This is actually a good leadership practice. The more we help others think, the better for everyone involved. I want to answer today’s question, “How many people can I lead?” with a question, “What do you think leaders do?” Your answer to my question may help you answer yours.
Tag: leaders
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Great Leaders Walk the Talk
Whether you pursued a leadership role or just happened into one, it probably became apparent pretty quickly that your team was watching you. What are they looking for?
Every organization needs leadership – there are only two ways to meet the need: hire them or grow your own. The right answer for most organizations is a combination of these two approaches. Today’s Challenge is from a leader who asked, “How do you attract leaders?”
If there is one theme that emerges over the almost 500 posts I’ve written it would be this: leadership, done well, is challenging. That’s one of the reasons writing 500-word posts is extremely difficult – I don’t want to provide simple answers to complex issues. However, today is one of the rare exceptions. I want to provide an easy way to improve performance in almost any setting: Share the Score.
This week I am attending the i4cp (Institute for Corporate Productivity) conference in Phoenix, Arizona. Thus far, we’ve heard from practitioners, academics and authors. My notes are full of ideas and questions to consider in the weeks and months to come. Today, I’ll share an assignment given to us by Kevin Wilde, Chief Learning Officer for General Mills.
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6 Things Leaders Cannot Delegate
My son recently asked me the question: What are the things a leader cannot delegate? As a leader of a thriving, high-impact non-profit organization (CARE for AIDS), he is trying to do what every leader should do: determine what only we can do… and then, do only those things.
The Chess Not Checkers approach to building a High Performance Organization is built on four primary moves: Bet on Leadership, Act as One, Win the Heart and Excel at Execution. Each of these moves is enabled by specific leadership practices. Today, I begin a series on these twelve best practices. Leaders in High Performance Organizations always Set the Pace.
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Five Things All Great Leaders Do
This post originally appeared on December 3, 2011. Since we recently released our 10th Anniversary Edition, it seemed like a good idea to share it again.
Great leaders serve. It’s the name of my website, but it’s also something I’ve learned over the years. Great leaders serve others and they do so in five very strategic ways. Ken Blanchard and I wrote about these practices in our book The Secret – What Great Leaders Know and Do. We recently celebrated the 10th anniversary edition of The Secret but the lessons are as true today as they were when it was first published.
In celebration of the one-year anniversary of the release of The Heart of Leadership, I’m writing a few posts to underscore some of the big ideas from the book. One of these ideas often stirs debate but remains true: Leaders are different.
Leaders get things done. This is one reason people seek us out. When there’s a problem to be solved, or and opportunity to seize, it’s often a leader who is called upon to respond. So what’s the problem? If we’re not careful, we can become so busy we actually forfeit our leadership!