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Are you making the world a better place?
That’s SUCH a deep question, both for your role as a leader and for you personally. I’ve found it to be the one question that’s sustained my energy over the decades.
For me personally, I weave in and out of giving a positive response. But I do seek to get involved in organizations which will magnify and focus making an impact.
Read the rest of this entry »Humans are funny; other people are simultaneously the best and worst parts of our days. Often the exact same people.
This stems from the fact that we are social beings. We care about others’ opinions of us, and we arrange things so that we depend on each other to get things done.
It’s a humorous part of being alive.
Read the rest of this entry »I used to think that the goal of life is to have things as comfortable as possible. Not working hard, but maybe sitting on the beach all day.
My perspective has changed. I’ve learned that some of the most joyful times come from working hard and making a contribution.
Those are pretty general criteria – “working hard” depends on what I’m good at and how frustrating the experience might be. “Making a contribution” depends a bit on whether people appreciate what I’ve done, but not always. Sometimes it’s the more general feeling that I’ve created value through my work.
Read the rest of this entry »Humans are social creatures; witness how important it is for us to maintain connections to family and friends during holidays and other celebrations.
This is true in the workplace as well.
I’m usually an introvert, which means I build my energy more by being alone than in a group. But even for me, some of the highlights of my career were when we accomplished something as a team. Together.
Read the rest of this entry »Humans, like all animals, have survived because we look for signals of danger.
This is a deep-seated tendency. It helps survival, but it’s not so good for rational thinking and empathy. It’s part of that lizard brain back there.
What’s the problem? Well, a sense of fear pushes you toward reactive thinking rather than thoughtful planning. Which is great when you have just seconds to respond, but not so great in most situations in modern life.
Read the rest of this entry »I’ve found that this is the kind of attitude you’re trying to nurture in leading a group: Let’s do this!
It captures precisely the kind of energy that we’re going to need to do some hard work while having fun. And it conveys a sense of personal commitment to achieving the group’s result.
Even pride.
Read the rest of this entry »This is often the time that we move into a positive, energizing, forward-looking mindset.
This is a powerful leadership tool, because it connects to your team’s desire to do something which makes a difference. Together.
I often see organizations which have goals which boil down to “do what we did last year, but 10% more.” That can have some value for certain kinds of people, but only if they believe that they have a direct impact on the team’s result.
Read the rest of this entry »Last week I talked about giving in and bringing things to a close. But most of the time we don’t want to do that, right?
We want to be the cheerleader to bring everyone to that wonderful vision of the future. That’s such an important part of your role as leader, to help bring everyone together, align their actions, and help them commit to doing all the hard work.
The challenge may be that the team isn’t emotionally there yet.
Read the rest of this entry »Are you ever happy in your job?
I’m often shocked by the number of people who are hating their work every day, slogging through the grind. As a leader, wouldn’t you like to do better than that for your people?
Are our lives really just about surviving?
Read the rest of this entry »Goals are wonderful! It feels amazing to accomplish something important and to celebrate when that happens.
But you have to realize that 99% of the time is not spent AT the goal, but on the hard work to get there. And that can be a slog.
Your team can get worn down by all the hard work, and lose their inspiration.
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The Values-Based Business 