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Optimism is a key tool of leadership. Why? Because it creates energy in yourself and others, helping people to focus on moving forward rather than retracting in despair.
But the word “optimism” tends to feel a little bit forced these days; it sounds like maybe it’s something you’re either born with or not.
So I’m working on building my intentional positivity.
Read the rest of this entry »Is your organization headed somewhere specifically? Somewhere important?
I recently heard David Burkus talk about the concept of being on a “crusade”. It’s similar to how I’ve used the concept of “mission,” but the word has more emotional impact.
David talked about three kinds of crusades:
Read the rest of this entry »You may be asking people to make tough sacrifices right now. Reduced hours, changing jobs, making tough decisions.
You’ve thought a lot about it, so you’ve laid out the new plans. Letting every person know what they need to do and how.
But this is missing a key element: Why?
Read the rest of this entry »Many of my readers are really struggling right now. Loss of work, lack of direction, confusion.
I had a chance to coach someone recently who was sensing this quite profoundly. Confined to his house, without work prospects, he’s finding it hard to move forward in any useful direction.
But here’s the thing: he’s actually been given a gift.
Read the rest of this entry »This is a very stressful time, so we’re all doing it.
Making mistakes.
That’s just par for the course, really. And it doesn’t help that information and advice is constantly changing. Something which seemed right yesterday may feel like totally the wrong thing today.
Diversity is a wonderful thing. Truly, it makes life rich and interesting.
Yet, for whatever reason, humans are wired to prefer people who are similar to themselves. I find the juxtaposition of these two ideas to be fascinating … and deeply challenging.
It’s not healthy to have an organization or society where everybody thinks the same. We’ve seen examples where people become subservient to “groupthink” – yielding their individuality to what seems to be commonly accepted. That’s dangerous!
I had the opportunity recently to have a great conversation with Chris Ippolito on his podcast. Chris is interviewing a wide variety of coaches, spreading the word about the amazing positive impact that this profession is having in the world!
This should be an easy question to answer, right? You’re the boss, so you’re steering the ship!
But there’s a good chance that when I listen to you, I’m hearing you mention a lot of other people. The employee who called in sick. Those customers who just keep demanding. The weather. The government.
I get it, I really do. It feels like I’m just a tiny boat on the water, at the mercy of anything and everything.
Read the rest of this entry »I was recently asked about what to do when it feels like you need to change the core purpose of your business. Another person answered that “your core purpose is always to return money to your shareholders, that never changes.”
I believe that attitude is fifty years out of date.
Sure, if you choose to create a company which is merely about extracting money from your customers and giving it to your investors, fine. But that’s not the people I’m working with.
Read the rest of this entry »You may not notice, but everything you do as a leader is affecting your people. If you’re having a lousy day, your folks pick that up and will reflect it by being brittle and tense.
Which then affects customers and everybody else.
But you also don’t want to live life behind a mask, right? Just put on the “inspiring, confident leader” face 24/7?
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The Values-Based Business 