Leadership
Leadership Secret: Change Without Changing
When it comes to change, most everyone can relate to these sentiments: “I want to be better, but I don’t want to change what makes me comfortable.” “I’m all for change, just don’t make me alter my routines.” That’s the bald truth, though no one would say it just that way. Things that make us […]
Continue ReadingHow Leaders Define and Deal With Conflict
LISTEN NOW: Welcome to the weekly podcast from The Backbone Institute! Today’s discussion: DEALING WITH CONFLICT How do you define conflict? I don’t know many people who really like conflict, but it exists. We tend to lump everything together that makes us uncomfortable and call it conflict, but that’s accurate. Is a Different point of […]
Continue Reading10 Questions Leaders Must Ask Themselves
In good times and bad, people watch leaders for signs that they are worth following. During the best of times, followers have questions, though they may not ask them out loud. In difficult and distressing times, followers are often more vocal, but the real questions still aren’t necessarily asked. Here are ten questions people have […]
Continue ReadingLeaders, Find Out How to Open New Doors of Opportunity
Everyone is familiar with the Comfort Zone, that place of safety and predictability that we like to inhabit, especially during difficult times. The Comfort Zone consists of our daily routines, opinions, assumptions, and accumulated knowledge that guides most of our behavior. There are two other zones that I would like to introduce to you: the […]
Continue ReadingHow to Think Before You Communicate
Watch babies sometime to see how they try to express themselves. I had the delightful opportunity to spend time with my 10-month old granddaughter over the weekend and I was fascinated to witness her advancing communications skills. It got me thinking about how we learn to share what’s on our minds. Babies cry when they […]
Continue ReadingLeaders Need to Practice Being Alert, Adaptive, Responsive, and Confident
The special Business Insight section of Monday’s Wall Street Journal highlighted technology as the driver of New, Faster Innovation. The ways in which we can collect data on customer purchases, reactions to new product developments and marketing messages, and the speed with which we can alter our offerings in response to customer demands are remarkable. […]
Continue ReadingFacilitation is Not Leadership. Learn to Act.
Challenging times call for clear thinking, bold action, and a steady hand on the wheel. The best leaders are conscious of these requirements and mindful in their practice of them. They conduct swift but thorough due diligence, think through implications of their decisions, then act. They do not equivocate, apologize, or back track, and strong […]
Continue ReadingAre Leaders Still Learning to Lead by Example?
The debate over stimulus package elements, timing, and consequences is deafening. Embarrassing, too, as I listen to people who should know what they are talking about flounder in near-hysteria. The emotion of the times appears to overwhelm the logic. That’s worrisome. As I watch and listen, I wonder: Are we learning anything? Does history offer […]
Continue ReadingWhy Leaders Should Understand That New Skill Growth Takes Time
Learning a new skill or adopting new behavior is a process. A process, by definition, consists of numerous steps usually followed sequentially and often requiring that one step be completed successfully before another can begin. Computer processes take a substantial amount of time to design; when complete they can make a lot of work seem […]
Continue ReadingA Leader Understands the Importance of Disagreement
I had the great privilege recently to teach a Leadership course for a new MBA program at Mount Mary College in Milwaukee. There were twelve women in the class who ranged in age from late twenties to fifty-something and held jobs in organizations from the Fortune 50 to a local county agency. We had some […]
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