If asked what kind of team you are building, most of us would describe how we want to create an empowered team. But what are you actively doing to nurture that kind of team. Consider this, if this Friday was your last day in the office for the next 6 months, what would you prepare, …
Leadership
Are you running an assembly line?
Many companies want to be innovative. They launch innovation programs, hackathons, and more. Then they go out and manage as if their company was an assembly line. They create standardized processes, controls and approvals, hierarchies and reporting structures, meetings about meetings. All of these to refine a process leading in the wrong direction. How can …
Reflecting On Our Past
Venerating the past can cause us to ignore the painful mistakes and prevent us from reevaluating the wisdom of past decisions. Demonizing the past can cause us to ignore the positive steps made and prevent us from understanding the wisdom of past decisions. As a leader, we must work to celebrate the good from our …
What are you celebrating?
I was rereading Marty Cagan’s book Inspired and I came across this quote: “Good teams celebrate when they achieve a significant impact to the business results. Bad teams celebrate when they finally released something.” Marty Cagan, Inspired It’s a good reminder that as a leader we need to pay attention to what we celebrate. Launching …
Our Product Is Not For You!
I attended a talk several years ago by the CEO of a very successful software company, and afterward a current customer asked about a product enhancement. Most CEO’s would respond with something like, “It’s on our roadmap” or “That’s good feedback, we’ll take it under consideration.” Not this CEO! His response, “Our product is not …
Pick it up!
“Don’t just walk by that trash, pick it up!” As a kid, my dad would yell at me for walking past a piece of trash on the ground in the yard or the house. I’d argue that it wasn’t my trash, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t being mean, he was teaching me to take …
The Illusion of Control
We create detailed plans with dates and dependencies mapped out. We plan for risks and pad our estimates for the unknown. And each time we fail to accurately predict the future. We can’t help ourselves though. We’re so consumed with the illusion of control. We’ve convinced ourselves if we just go into more detail, get …
Are you ready?
A few weeks ago I came across this video about some “preppers” At first, they might seem over the top in their preparations. But what if their fears come true? Then we wouldn’t look at them as being crazy, but prepared. What if rather than what you feared coming true, what if what you hoped …
Investing in Leadership?
How are you investing in your leadership this week? John Maxwell puts it this way: Becoming a leader is a lot like investing successfully in the stock market. If your hope is to make a fortune in a day, you’re not going to be successful. There are no successful “day traders” in leadership development. What …
Will you take responsibility?
I have sometimes complained about a micromanaging boss, but am I ready to accept the repercussions that come from being given the autonomy to lead and potentially fail? Thomas Ricks’ book The Generals examines this issue from the perspective of how leadership in the Army has changed since World War II. He outlines how George …