Your best leadership will always flow when you avoid the emotional extremes.
As a leader, playing the "If just one person" card is one of the weakest ways to justify a decision. It shows that you are holding a weak hand.
In leadership, there's nothing quite like proven, reliable experience. But if you're not careful, all that experience can slide into nothing more than tired staleness.
The idea that there is such thing as a "team decision" is one of the biggest myths in leadership.
On-the-way leaders are always on the lookout for leadership moments wherever they are.
If you've been finding that your leadership has not been as sharp lately, it could be that your team is not responding to your leadership. And the culprit might be found in your credibility.
In leadership, the power of a decision is found in getting the call right, even more so in getting the timing of the call right.
Is everyone in the organization clear on our overall direction? Is everyone clear on our priorities? Does everyone see how their contribution fits into the big picture?
When your leadership battery is fully charged, everyone around you wins.
Is counting important? Absolutely. Just be sure your measurement doesn't end there.
Imagine if you could somehow really tell if all the leadership books you are reading and the seminars you are attending are paying off.
One of the most effective leaders I've ever known was highly productive, and yet operated at a pace that was somehow both urgent and yet unhurried.
The idea of the "fearless leader" owes more to myth than it does to leadership reality. The goal is not to be fearless, the goal is to be courageous.
In today's turbulent times, leaders are being called upon to lead with more courage than ever before. But how can you lead courageously, when you're just not feeling particularly brave?
Most leaders understand the vital importance of casting a compelling vision. But is it possible that you have slipped from the casting of visions to the mere making of public relation announcements?
At the end of the day, leadership is all about making decisions. But before you can make the call you need clarity on whose call it is to make.
Effective leaders know that to maximize growth, they must be willing to give up a measure of control.
Years ago a leadership mentor taught me a simple yet profoundly effective tool to keep an organization aligned with its plan. It's a matrix that looks at each opportunity or idea and asks two basic questions.
What you accomplish in your day is largely driven by the momentum you have when you start the day.
