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There are some amazing leaders out there who we admire and even envy.
Here’s the problem: they’re not you. And if you tried to be them, you might totally fail. Or even hate yourself for trying.
How do we deal with this apparent contradiction?
Read the rest of this entry »We’ve all been there, the greatest embarrassments of our careers.
The hard part is being really honest with yourself, as you probably saw the failure coming and just hoped that you’d be able to find your away around it.
Jim Collins articulated this idea well in Good to Great:
Read the rest of this entry »Do you have periodic one-on-one meetings with each of your employees?
I would imagine we all INTEND to do that, but … things get busy. It’s not critical. So these powerful conversations get delayed.
I’d say you don’t realize just how amazing these kinds of meetings can be. What’s the point?
Well, primarily you’re:
Read the rest of this entry »When you’re involved in the decisions, you have more ownership of whatever results.
Every time I run across this principle, which is surprisingly often, I’m surprised about its nuances. Whether we’re talking about our kids, employees, volunteers, partners … The fact is that people are more inspired and motivated by things they actually have some influence over.
You can tell your employees what to do, and in fact you may even think that’s your job. The problem is that they may not be particularly motivated to do their best work in this case. It’s not that your directions were wrong – it’s that they didn’t have any input in the process. So you get compliance, not engagement.
Read the rest of this entry »Ghosting during the employee recruiting process seems to still be increasing.
I have to say that it’s the dumbest way to treat people if you really do want to find and keep great employees. But I get that it’s a way to avoid an uncomfortable conversation and that you’re “too busy” to follow up with all those recruits.
It’s still foolish.
Read the rest of this entry »There’s a powerful concept in the field of coaching called co-creation.
It’s also useful in the world of leadership because it says so much about aligning teams and engendering buy-in.
The traditional view of leadership is that the leader is the one who tells people what to do. If you have any significant experience at all, you know that this definition doesn’t hold water. Why? Because if you respect peoples’ humanity, you have to give them the ability to make their own decisions.
Read the rest of this entry »You know you should.
But there’s so much to do! So much to pay attention to!
Disconnecting is good for the soul. Do you have a time every day where you give yourself permission to disconnect from your business?
Read the rest of this entry »I totally understand the need to manage a business carefully and to know what your financial status is at all times.
But building a generous business is investing for your future. The nice thing is that you can totally decide how you want to exercise this. For example:
- Giving your employees the opportunity to contribute time/money/products to causes they’re passionate about
- Letting your customers have more leeway than is normal in your industry
- Doing high-visibility sponsorships to expand your brand image
- Working with key partners in win-win scenarios to benefit your community
But what does it mean to approach things with a spirit of generosity?
Read the rest of this entry »It sounds counter-intuitive, but a business owner can feel very lonely.
That’s because he or she doesn’t feel like they can really open up and be vulnerable about their business decisions. For their employees, they’re supposed to have all the answers. To their peers, they feel like they have to “play the game” and speak about nothing but success and amazing performance.
And for their spouse, they don’t want to worry them that business issues might disrupt their family life.
Read the rest of this entry »The word “should” is a great alarm bell for drawing attention to the decision-making process.
I should get this done for my boss. I should take more time with my kids. I should drink 8 cups of water every day.
The problem is that each describes a situation where you’re giving up control over your decisions to an external force, usually a person. The question is: do you want to give up that control? Do you choose to?
Read the rest of this entry »
The Values-Based Business 