70% of American workers are “not engaged” or “actively disengaged” (Gallup, 2013). That figure represents a failure of leadership. Leadership is the ability to impact and engage people in important work that causes positive disruption. That clearly … [Read more...]
Leadership Happens in The Field
In Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future, Peter Senge and his co-authors write: “We’ve come to believe that the core capacity needed for accessing the field of the future is presence. We first thought of presence as being fully … [Read more...]
Move Your Own D@%# Needle
There’s a phrase that many in business have been using for some time now. Typically it’s a manager in a leadership role telling someone else that they need to “move the needle.” That is, they need to cause some change, they need to increase revenue … [Read more...]
The Three Cs of Authentic Leadership
Larry Spears, CEO of the Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership identifies ten characteristics of servant-leaders: Listening, Empathy, Healing, Awareness, Persuasion, Conceptualization, Foresight, Stewardship, Commitment to the growth of people, and … [Read more...]
Self-Awareness Drives Corporate Performance
How self-aware are you? Do you know what your blind spots are? What skills do you excel at? What traits make up your personality and drive your behavior? These are important questions for anyone wanting to practice authentic leadership. And, it’s … [Read more...]
Leadership is Not All “Get er done.”
“Don’t just stand there! Do something!” We’ve all heard this or said this to someone at some time in our lives. It’s a sign of our need to “do.” We have a preference for action. As a species we are homo completus. We like to get stuff done, tick, the … [Read more...]
3 Spring Cleaning Tips for Leaders
Spring is a time for renewal and rejuvenation. For many of us, it invites a ritual known as "spring cleaning." To lead others effectively, we need to undertake some spring cleaning as well. Some of our spring cleaning focus is external; some of it is … [Read more...]
6 Vital Skills for Strategic Thinking
(NOTE: This post is an excerpt from a longer White Paper on Strategic Thinking.) Lead Change Leaders change things. At least we’re supposed to. We’re supposed to drive the business from A to B, move people from groups to teams, and develop … [Read more...]
Three Cs of Transformative Leadership, Part II
Today, I’m going to cover the second C of Transformative Leadership: Connectedness. To lead transformation, we must be connected to others. Transformative leaders are connected. What does this mean? It means a few different things. First, the … [Read more...]
The 3 Rs of Sustainable #Leadership
As we rush headlong into our days we may miss the reality that many of us are doing more at the cost of “being” less. Remember the old western movies when the stagecoach driver gets shot and he drops the reins and the horse are galloping wildly … [Read more...]