Leadership Feeds

IN MY THIRTY YEARS as an executive coach, I have seen a lot of change — the complete digital transformation of the workplace, increased diversity of the labor market, the shifting role of employers. But one thing that has largely remained unchanged has been the approach to leadership development. Even though the world looks nothing like it did 30 years ago, organizations still cling to strategies and methodologies developed in the 20th century. Here are five outdated practices that organizations need to kick to the curb immediately: 1. Limiting the definition of leadership Many have asked me how to define a leader, but I have refused. There is no one way to be a leader. Effective leadership does not rely upon a standard set of characteristics like charisma or aggressiveness. Narrowly defining leadership restricts innovation by excluding countless points of view and modes of operating. Yet, many learning and development strategies are built towards forcing leaders to fit themselves into a restrictive mold. When leaders are pressured into leadership styles that go against their natural way of operating, they are set up for failure. It’s like wearing a set of clothes that don’t fit. Leaders feel self-conscious and uncomfortable. They end up focusing on themselves instead of the people and organization they are leading. Opening the definition of leadership empowers leaders to play to their strengths rather than confining them to operate within a set style. And it opens the door to greater diversity in the leadership ranks and…

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” Cicero An ungrateful leader is a staggering contradiction in terms.

Feelings aren’t the final authority on noble behaviors. Gratitude is a practice. Express gratitude when you don’t feel it as long as you believe it’s the right thing to do.

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Anthony Iannarino on how to start practicing gratitude: “One way to start a gratitude practice is to take an inventory of all things for which You should be grateful. Include every good thing you have now and good things you have had in the past, including the experiences you’ve had throughout your life. It is sometimes easier to make a list, as it challenges your mind to fill in the blanks. This list should include the people who have had a profound impact on your life. Or negativity bias has us constantly looking for what is wrong. An inventory of what you are grateful for can help you recognize what you have that is positive and worth being grateful for.” Source: The Negativity Fast: Proven Techniques to Increase Positivity, Reduce Fear, and Boost Success II. Brian Johnson on gratitude: “As Tal Ben-Shahar tells us: “The word appreciate has tw0 meanings. The first meaning is to be thankful,’ the opposite of taking something for granted. The second meaning is ‘to increase in value’ (as money appreciates in the bank). Combined, these two meanings point to a truth that has been proved repeatedly in research on gratitude: when we appreciate the good in our lives, the good grows and we have more of it. The opposite, sadly, is also true: when we fail to appreciate the…

We celebrated our first Thanksgiving as a married couple 1,600 miles from home. It was a proud moment until I tried to carve the turkey.

We live in an imperfect world. The universe isn’t conspiring to do anything. Leadership is more like a war zone than Disney Land. Yes, it’s fulfilling. Yes, there are rewards. And yes, you… Continue reading →

You spend large amounts of time talking. Words are hammers. Understand, embrace, and increase the impact you have during one-on-ones. 7 powerful phrases. 10 powerful questions.

IF YOU ENTER a bookstore and peruse the shelves for books on famous leaders in history, you’ll likely find a recurring cast of characters staring at you. Winston Churchill. Napoleon Bonaparte. Abraham Lincoln. Mao Zedong. Keep browsing and you’ll encounter another variant of this literature featuring prominent men (and sometimes women) in the business or corporate world: Bill Gates. Elon Musk. Warren Buffett. Carlos Slim. Jeff Bezos. With varying degrees of nuance, these people are treated as heroes, role models, and inspirations. They’re portrayed as uniquely powerful individuals — able to overcome, through sheer force of will or ruthless intelligence, the obstacles they faced. The message from this literary cottage industry is that where there’s a will, there’s a way. It’s hard to escape this view of leaders and leadership. But what qualities do our celebrated leaders of industry embody that make them successful? Is it their ability to increase the company’s value? Effectively lead through a major transition? Inspire others through a shared passion? And, importantly, what qualities can others emulate to themselves become more effective leaders? Learning how to be good leaders doesn’t involve formulas or abstractions. It can, however, be edified through examining tangible illustrations of leaders and leadership from history. How leaders operated within, or pushed against, the constraints of their time illustrate characteristics of responsibility, vision, sacrifice, and more. Actions of standout leaders through history who have had to make decisions in the direst circumstances, impose a radical new vision, or stand up to…

A hero helps us imagine who we can become. Leaders build culture with stories. What stories are you telling tody?

IN HIS BOOK Thank You for Being Late, author and award-winning journalist Tom Friedman argues that to understand the twenty-first century, you must realize that “the planet’s three largest forces”—technology, globalization, and climate change—are accelerating all at once. As a business leader, you already get that. But, at the same time, you need to navigate other realities, too—like, for starters, figuring out your own goals and understanding and performing well in your job. Not to mention that the pandemic caused unprecedented distress among workers. Being displaced from their physical work environments, missing their colleagues socially and collaboratively, and losing much of their managers’ usual support, they became increasingly disengaged. They also grew unsure of how to take control of their purpose at work—and in life. Today, however, workers have no choice other than to rise to the occasion: to do their jobs well, to make good and relevant decisions, and to clearly contribute to their organization’s mission and success. And to do all that and more autonomously. But, as reiterated by recent research by Boston Consulting Group, workers first need agency and control—the tenets of autonomy. And, importantly, agency and control require what I call the three selfs: self-confidence, self-accountability, and self-sufficiency. And those selfs must be built and nurtured to take hold. Leaders Must Rise to the Occasion, Too As a leader, your role in creating an autonomous work environment cannot be overstated. You alone have the power to build and nurture workers’ three selfs, and to foster…

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Brad Stulberg on getting comfortable with change: “If we cannot get comfortable (or at least comfortable enough) with the fact that everything changes, we risk going through life at an arm’s length from its most poignant offerings. In trying to protect ourselves from the experience of change, we end up limiting the depth of our lives.” Source: Master of Change: How to Excel When Everything Is Changing – Including You II. William Vanderbloemen on self-awareness: “Being self-aware makes you better at finding solutions. Knowing yourself comes with a guaranteed pinch: (or more) of humility, so when a self-aware person is faced with a challenge, they can decenter themselves from the issue. Being self-aware is knowing all about you while knowing that it’s not all about you. Whatever the crisis, the Self-Aware remain even-keeled and committed to the goal.” Source: Be the Unicorn: 12 Data-Driven Habits that Separate the Best Leaders from the Rest * * * Look for these ideas every Thursday on the Leading Blog. Find more ideas on the LeadingThoughts index. * * * Like us on Instagram and Facebook for additional leadership and personal development ideas.  …

YouGov asked more than 29,000 Americans whether they owned books and found that the vast majority did: 85% said they owned at least one physical book. They report the following findings: However, one in five Americans say they own between one and ten physical books. Including the 9% of respondents who say they own no physical books, at least 69% of Americans own no more than 100 books. Another 25% own at least 100 books, including 4% who own between 500 and 1,000 books and 3% who own more than 1,000 volumes. Looking at age, 19% of Americans between 31 and 35 years old own at least 100 physical books, compared to 31% of those between 51 and 55 and 42% of those between 71 and 75. The higher the education level, the more books they own. For example, among 31- to 35-year-olds, 8% of people whose highest level of education is a high school diploma own at least 100 books, compared to 25% of people in the same age range with postgraduate degrees. When it comes to how they arrange their books, 29% of book-owning Americans say they don’t organize their books. 22% of book-owning Americans organize their books by genre or subject. Sorting books by color is more popular among younger Americans. Among book owners under 30, 6% say they sort by color, compared to less than 1% of book owners who are 65 or older. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter for additional leadership and personal…

PROFESSIONAL golfer Phil Mickelson has played golf with a lot of elite performers like Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, and Tom Brady. He said, “The biggest difference between people who get the most out of their talent and those who don’t is the ability to retake control of your thoughts, to quickly turn it around when things start going bad.” He adds, they “have the ability to retake control of their thoughts, to refocus on what they want to have happen, on where they want the ball to go. When things start going bad, they have the ability to quickly turn it around.” They are resilient. In an interview with BBC celebrity chat host Michael Parkinson, Michael Caine put it this way: PARKINSON: I came across a line which I just wanted you to sort of explain to me. You said that if you did have one philosophy of life, it was use the difficulty. Yes, use the difficulty. What does that mean? CAINE: Well, yeah. I was rehearsing a play when I was a very young actor, and I had to come into this scene—it was a stage play—I’m behind the flats waiting to open the door. There was an improvised scene between a husband and wife going on inside, and they got carried away, and they started throwing things. And he threw a chair, and it lodged in the doorway. And I went to get open the door, and I just got my head round, and I said,…

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. William H. Danforth, founder of the Ralson Purina Company on giving your life away: “Our most valuable possessions are those which can be shared without lessening: those which, when shared, multiply. Our least valuable possessions are those which, when divided, are diminished.” Source: I Dare You II. Charlie Gilkey on dragons: “There be dragons on the journey to thriving and doing your best work. Dragons aren’t a signal that we’re on the wrong road but rather that we’re on the right road. So the next time you’re dismayed or hesitant because of a dragon guarding the way forward, embrace that it’s there precisely because it’s the way forward and charge headlong at it. You were made to beat dragons.” Source: Start Finishing: How to Go from Idea to Done * * * Look for these ideas every Thursday on the Leading Blog. Find more ideas on the LeadingThoughts index. * * * Like us on Instagram and Facebook for additional leadership and personal development ideas.  …

CHARACTER is often confused with personality, but they’re not the same. Personality is your predisposition—your basic instincts for how to think, feel, and act. Character is your capacity to prioritize your values over your instincts. Knowing your principles doesn’t necessarily mean you know how practice them, particularly under stress or pressure. It’s easy to be proactive and determined when things are going well. The true test of character is whether you manage to stand by those values when the deck is stacked against you. If personality is how you respond on a typical day, character is how you show up on a hard day. Personality is not your destiny—it’s your tendency. Character skills enable you to transcend that tendency to be true to your principles. —Adam Grant, Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things * * * Follow us on Instagram and Twitter for additional leadership and personal development ideas.  …

DO YOU get stuck in chronic performance? It’s that pressure you feel to get every task done as flawlessly as possible—and then some. A never-ending game of catch-up. So, we work harder to get things done. Hard work leads to better performance, right? The answer to that question is what Eduardo Briceño calls The Performance Paradox. The performance paradox is the counterintuitive phenomenon that if we want to improve our performance, we have to do something other than just perform. No matter how hard we work, if we only do things as best as we know how, trying to minimize mistakes, we get stuck at our current levels of understanding, skills, and capabilities. Too often, the performance paradox tricks us into chronic performance, which leads to stagnation. If we focus only on performing, our performance suffers. So, if working harder isn’t the answer, what do we do? The answer lies in learning to learn—a mindset of growth—in conjunction with performance. Briceño calls it the Learning Zone. It’s filled with curiosity, experimentation, and change. When used in combination the Performance Zone, we grow into higher levels of performance. Rather than just doing things the best we know how, we learn beyond the known to new levels of performance. “Regular engagement in the Learning Zone allows you to uncover and learn ways to work smarter, more efficiently, and more effectively.” It’s not just learning from doing but learning while doing that will lead us to higher levels of performance. “Improvement and…

IF YOU’VE HAD to be on a plane in the last year or so, especially within the U.S., you’d likely agree with the NBC News proclamation that “the days of fun flying are long gone.” Between surging demand, labor shortages, outdated air traffic management, and travel reservation I.T. systems, air travel feels a bit more like a chore than like a treat. In the U.S., airline companies have pointed fingers at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as the biggest cause of outages, even as the FAA has fired back at airlines. That’s a shame because the aviation industry as a whole still continues to be an industry model for how to operate with extremely high reliability despite having a highly fragmented set of organizational entities. Yes, we realize this sounds counterintuitive to anyone who’s dealt with a flight delay or a lost bag, but hear us out. If you think the business processes in your own company are complex, try running an operation globally that moves 5 billion passengers every year in roughly 25,000 commercial aircraft, via 15,000 airports located in 195 countries. And do that with over 99.999999 percent reliability. And just to make things interesting, do it in a decentralized organizational construct where laws, standards, and procedures aren’t as tightly controllable as within a single company. There’s no single CEO-like entity and no hierarchy for single accountability. In fact, deep lessons can be taught from aviation for most industries and companies who want to operate efficiently and…

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Prasad Kaipa and Navi Radjou on wisdom: “Wisdom itself grounds us, helping us to shift from using our smartness for our own benefit—and often with a zero-sum mindset—to using it for creating new value for a higher purpose.” Source: From Smart to Wise: Acting and Leading with Wisdom II. Amy Jen Su on boundaries: “Boundaries are not about putting on a suit of armor and assuming a defensive posture in trying to protect your time, energy, or emotions like a soldier stationed at the top of a fortress keeping enemies at bay. They’re also not about opening your door so wide that everyone and anything can get in. They’re about finding that middle ground that honors and protects your needs while remaining judiciously available to others.” Source: The Leader You Want to Be: Five Essential Principles for Bringing Out Your Best Self—Every Day * * * Look for these ideas every Thursday on the Leading Blog. Find more ideas on the LeadingThoughts index. * * * Like us on Instagram and Facebook for additional leadership and personal development ideas.  …

HERE’S A LOOK at some of the best leadership books to be released in November 2023 curated just for you. Be sure to check out the other great titles being offered this month. Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes by Morgan Housel Every investment plan under the sun is, at best, an informed speculation of what may happen in the future, based on a systematic extrapolation from the known past. Same as Ever reverses the process, inviting us to identify the many things that never, ever change. With his usual elan, Morgan Housel presents a master class on optimizing risk, seizing opportunity, and living your best life. Through a sequence of engaging stories and pithy examples, he shows how we can use our newfound grasp of the unchanging to see around corners, not by squinting harder through the uncertain landscape of the future, but by looking backwards, being more broad-sighted, and focusing instead on what is permanently true. The Heart of Innovation: A Field Guide for Navigating to Authentic Demand by Matt Chanoff, Merrick Furst, Daniel Sabbah and Mark Wegman Books on innovation mostly focus on how to nurture innovative cultures and brainstorm ideas. The Heart of Innovation is the first popular book to concretely delve into what innovations really are and how to create them. Many attempts at innovation fail because customers turn out to be indifferent. The key to success is to uncover unmet authentic demand; what customers cannot be indifferent to. Through fresh…

Here is a selection of Posts from October 2023 that you will want to check out: The One Trait Every Leader Should Eliminate by @LollyDaskal Toward a Better Model for Leader Development by @artpetty How The Right Values Help Increase Your Wellbeing by @LaRaeQuy The Art of Unlearning by @samchand People Skills: Responding to Disrespect With Dignity by @KateNasser Are High Performers More at Risk of Burnout? by @suzimcalpine An Important Ingredient to High Performance by @AlanSteinJr Highly Effective Leadership Questions: Open-Ended vs. Closed-Ended by @KateNasser Tired of the Drama Storm? Effective Managers Write the Rules of the Road with Their Teams by @ArtPetty Building Your Personal Braintrust by @SahilBloom The Ambiguity Factor in Leadership Communication by @JenniferVMiller 11 Principles that Form a Design Mindset by @stephenanderson A Few Laws of Getting Rich by @morganhousel Fall Back to Reading Series Featuring @JamesStrock via @DebbieLaskeyMBA The Lazy CEO by @toddordal ChatGPT Dos and Don’ts for Authors by @wallybock Lead with Wonder by @Mark_Sanborn Maintaining Your Company’s Culture by @samchand Fear of the Empty Chair, Part 3 (On Attrition) by @edbatista Understanding ChatGPT by @wallybock What to Do When People Reject Your Ideas by @PhilCooke The Oatmeal Habit – How to Form Habits that Stick to Your Ribs by Ken Downer@RapidStartLdr Do You Have the Confidence NOT to Speak? by @PhilCooke Burned by People Too Many Times from @AdmiredLeader The Business Case for Forgiveness by Marlene Chism @stopyourdrama Communicating From The Heart (And The Soul) from @JohnBaldoni Falling Short by @James_Albright…

COMMUNICATION is a two-way process. It is imperative that we understand how to transmit and receive in order to have the appropriate communication that builds stronger relationships. The Evolution of Communication From the hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt to the tweets of today, communication has always been humanity’s compass. By the firesides of our ancestors, stories shaped cultures and defined communities. Today, we navigate through torrents of emails, texts, and posts. Yet, one thing remains unchanged: our innate need to connect meaningfully. If we do not treat communication as a strategic tool, then we just might become accidental and not intentional, which will continue to erode the power of relationship. Every conversation is an art form. It involves a choreography of words, gestures, tones, and even the silences in between. Each dialogue is colored by personal histories, beliefs, and emotions. Without intention or clarity, such interactions risk devolving into cacophonies rather than harmonious exchanges. We have tried to codify these interactions with The Communication Code. We are seeing the need in this viral landscape to teach people how to verbalize their needs practically inside each conversation to ensure that expectations are met and not discounted. Our Inherent Need to Connect Humans are wired to seek connections. Our success, survival, and emotional well-being hinge on our ability to bond. In today’s hyper-connected yet often impersonal world, nurturing these bonds demands renewed focus and commitment. It requires us to be thoroughly intentional in a world that awards the laziness of accidental living….

Botanists will tell you to have a vision for how you want a plant to look before you start pruning it. The same is true for your life and your business. Whether you’re talking about programs, processes, personal commitments, or even people – over time, they all tend to accumulate. You simply end up with more of everything. However, overgrowth impedes your ability to scale yourself and your business. In order to grow, you’re going to have to prune. Continue reading The Pruning Principle at Full Focus.

It’s that time of year again. The weather is changing, leaves are falling off the trees, and your favorite leadership podcast is talking about Strategic Planning again. If there’s one thing that humans do well, it’s imagining the future. (We can do it badly, too, of course.) But the important thing is that we can create better outcomes for ourselves and our businesses when we do it intentionally. That’s where Strategic Planning comes in. Continue reading 6 Essential Ingredients for Effective Strategic Planning at Full Focus.

“Quiet quitting” seems to be the hot topic of conversation in business and leadership circles right now. But what exactly is “quiet quitting”? How can you figure out if your employees are doing it? And, perhaps most importantly, how can you create an organizational culture where your team members will feel empowered in their job?   Continue reading How to Avoid Quiet Quitting in Your Business at Full Focus.

You spend your days managing details, scheduling meetings, and replying to emails — by the time you start on the “real work,” the workday is half over. This ends up cutting into your personal life as you try to make up for lost time. It all leads to you feeling more tired, more stressed, and less productive at work and at home. If you heed our advice, you can minimize this pain. The advice is simple: hire an executive assistant! Continue reading 5 Mistakes Business Owners Make When Hiring an Assistant at Full Focus.

Last week we talked about the importance of a thriving company culture. Hopefully, Michael and Megan made the case that a company culture is both important and the responsibility of the leader. We’re going to continue that conversation by talking about how businesses can actually cultivate a thriving company culture – no matter where they’re starting from.   Continue reading 4 Ingredients for a Thriving Company Culture at Full Focus.

Anywhere you find a group of people, you’ll find a culture. That’s true for families, churches, cities, neighborhoods, and anything else you can think of that includes more than one person. This idea is especially true for businesses. Leaders need to have a vision for how they want their culture to look and feel. If they don’t, they could find themselves surrounded by a toxic culture that not only hurts business but makes everyone miserable. Continue reading Why a Thriving Culture Is Essential at Full Focus.

Your business is probably the largest single asset in your portfolio. You’ve invested time and money, and, one day, you may want to see a healthy return on those investments. If you want to maximize the value of your business, then you should start making plans today. Continue reading How to Maximize the Market Value of Your Business in 8 Steps at Full Focus.

There is no denying that you will get further, faster with a good coach. But what about a great coach? How much further could you get with amazing coaching? Today’s episode tackles that question by talking with LeeAnn Moody, Director of Performance Coaching for Full Focus. LeeAnn and Michael break down the four characteristics of great coaching and help you identify what you might need to be successful for your organization. Continue reading What Makes Good Coaching Great at Full Focus.

During the height of the pandemic, everyone was forced to go remote. But, now that offices have opened back up, leaders and staff are confronted with some challenging questions around a seemingly basic concept: Where should work happen? Continue reading What Elon Musk Gets Wrong About Remote Work at Full Focus.

What if you could grow your business and only do about 20% of the work you’re currently doing? If that were true, you would do almost anything to find out how to do it, right? Continue reading The 10/80/10 Principle: Grow Your Business with 20% of the Work at Full Focus.

How to Sustain Company Culture During the Pandemic With a Virtual Mentorship Program: A Case Study – Read more by Danielle Johnson on Training Industry.

Navigating Instructional Design Without Formal Training: 9 Tips for Success – Read more by Mike Allen on Training Industry.

When To Deploy Coaching vs. Training vs. Consulting – Read more by Mike Allen on Training Industry.

3 Ways to Improve Organizational Culture and Retention – Read more by Danielle Johnson on Training Industry.

Give Customer-facing Employees a Makeover – Read more by Kevin Brewer on Training Industry.

How Workplace Productivity Depends on Training and Development – Read more by Kevin Brewer on Training Industry.

Accelerate Your Career Growth With Sponsorship – Read more by Sarah Gallo on Training Industry.

Lessons Learned From Talking to 53 Sales Managers – Read more by Mike Allen on Training Industry.

What We’re Hearing for the Modern Workplace: Upskilling Acts in Concert With Talent Objectives – Read more by Sarah Gallo on Training Industry.

Make Learning Sticky Through Deliberate Reinforcement: How One Organization Used Learning Reinforcement Plans To Increase Learner Retention – Read more by Mike Allen on Training Industry.

Help Leaders Be Better at Running the Business – Read more by Kevin Brewer on Training Industry.

Improve Training Effectiveness With VR: A Future-forward Case Study – Read more by Kevin Brewer on Training Industry.

Why Lateral Moves Are Beneficial to Your Career – Read more by Sarah Gallo on Training Industry.

5 Tips for Communicating Under Pressure – Read more by Sarah Gallo on Training Industry.

How L&D Can Create a Human-centered Workplace – Read more by Sarah Gallo on Training Industry.

How to Instill the 7 Cs of Team Resilience in Your Organization – Read more by Raya Schmidt on Training Industry.

Design Thinking Skills for Internal Consultants – Read more by Mike Allen on Training Industry.

Sell Better, Faster and Stronger: How to Fix Your Closing Problem – Read more by Mike Allen on Training Industry.

Measuring the Impact of Better Development Discussions – Read more by Mike Allen on Training Industry.

Identifying and Developing Inclusive Leaders – Read more by Mike Allen on Training Industry.

3 Ways to Improve Training in a Hybrid Classroom – Read more by Mike Allen on Training Industry.

What Does It Mean to Be a Fair Leader? – Read more by Sarah Gallo on Training Industry.

“Can’t You Just Do That Over Zoom?”: A Crash Course in Blended Virtual Learning – Read more by Mike Allen on Training Industry.

The Future of the Training Industry Is the Ecosystem – Read more by Hope Williams on Training Industry.

4 Requirements for Successful Virtual Training Labs – Read more by Hope Williams on Training Industry.

From the Sage on the Stage to the Back of the Room: A Case Study in Improving Instructor-led Training – Read more by Hope Williams on Training Industry.

It’s Not a Skills Gap but a Training Gap That We Need to Fix – Read more by Hope Williams on Training Industry.

6 Signs of an Engaged Workforce, According to Employees and Supervisors – Read more by Hope Williams on Training Industry.

5 Ways to Encourage Learners to Develop a Growth Mindset During the Pandemic – Read more by Hope Williams on Training Industry.

Is Leadership a Learned Skill or an Innate Ability? – Read more by Hope Williams on Training Industry.

6 Leadership Communication Practices for Great Leaders – Read more by Hope Williams on Training Industry.

4 Steps to Pivot to a Successful Virtual Event – Read more by Sarah Gallo on Training Industry.

Leaders, Are You Energizing Your Team? – Read more by Hope Williams on Training Industry.

Bringing Learning to Every Person, Every Day – Read more by Hope Williams on Training Industry.

4 Rules for Creating a Resilient Team Mindset – Read more by Hope Williams on Training Industry.