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It can be tough to undergo a change of leadership. Especially if you’re the outgoing leader.
Sure, there are potentially many effects on people in the organization, but that’s not what I’m focused on today. I’d like to talk about YOUR experience.
The best case is that the change is known in advance, even if not all the details are clear. Soon there will be a specific date, perhaps a certain event at which the announcement will be made. Ideally you see this as a positive thing, the passing of leadership duties from one person to the next.
Read the rest of this entry »I’ve been doing a lot of planning recently – weeks, months, years – and I’ve noticed something curious.
Here’s the way I describe it: I’ve created a plan for this thing happening next month, and have done my best to think through all the ins and outs. It’s become so real in my mind that I’m imagining it actually happening.
The problem, of course, is that it hasn’t actually happened yet.
Read the rest of this entry »Leadership can certainly feel lonely at times.
A lot of that feeling comes from a belief that you’re not supposed to show weakness, doubt, or failure. You’re the strongest person in the entire organization, right?
But this leads to isolation.
Read the rest of this entry »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 »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 »A leader’s primary reason for being is to instill hope.
Think about it: Why would an employee want to work for you? Because they hope for a stable life and valuable work, with people who make it interesting.
Why would a customer want to buy from you? Because they hope you’ll fix their problem or address a need they have.
Read the rest of this entry »Your relationships are built on single acts. Your organization’s culture is one conversation at a time.
It’s about the cumulative effect of many comments and actions. Each on its own may not feel that important by itself, but impressions are made by the totality.
That said, we all remember actions and discussions which had an immediate and lasting impact. I remember the time I told my boss that I would rather quit my job than do what he was requesting. That was nearly thirty years ago.
Read the rest of this entry »It seems like a lot of my thoughts this month are gravitating towards flexibility and resilience! This week I’d like to explore what it means for a whole organization to withstand the buffets of change.
Even thrive.
Last week I talked about core principles of perspective, readiness, energy, learning, and trust. Well, it turns out that groups of people exercise these characteristics as well.
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The Values-Based Business 