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.
In my experience these are some of the most dangerous lies a leader can ever tell themselves.
Always learn from the leaders you most admire, but continually check your spirit to ensure you’re not seeking to merely copy them.
Teams don’t make decisions. Individuals make decisions. Every decision must have someone’s name written next to it.
It’s no secret that passion is a required trait for any leader. But on its own, passion isn’t enough.
If you give in to these shortcuts, you can lose credibility, sow confusion, or slow momentum.
Like any language, the skill of talking like a leader can be learned, developed and mastered.
The ability of a leader to speak the truth is not opposed to the idea of being kind. In leadership, speaking the truth is the very essence of kindness.
