I recently saw two separate and contradictory articles about goals. The first suggested that goal setting was an artifact of management by objective and was no longer necessary in today’s business world. The other encouraged leaders to set “stretch goals” for their teams; goals for which the leader is willing… Read More »Why Stretch Goals Aren’t Effective
A friend recently lamented to me that he didn’t feel he was as good at leading as he should be. He is something of a perfectionist and so I know it bothers him that he isn’t a flawless leader; as if there was such a thing. Leadership success depends… Read More »You’re in the Arena and You’re Doing Fine
Jack was always late for work. His supervisor, Bill, spoke to him about it, documented formal counseling sessions, and explained that Jack would lose his job if he didn’t start showing up on time. Each time Bill spoke to him Jack improved, but only temporarily. Bill was quite upset when… Read More »Did You Cause Motivation or Just Behavior Change?
Authentic leadership requires that we honestly evaluate our own abilities and identify our strengths and weaknesses. No one is strong in all areas and that becomes even more true as leaders rise to more responsible positions. Recently, I was having a business discussion with a friend and the subject turned… Read More »Are You an Authentic Leader?
The boss called me in to tell me I was being transferred from a position I really enjoyed to one I certainly didn’t want. When I arrived at the new office I found that my predecessor had been fired and I had a strong feeling it was premature to start… Read More »A Leadership Challenge
Does effective leadership mean popularity? It seemed that Jerry was the example of effective leadership. He never interfered with his subordinate leader’s areas or responsibility, he was well liked by everyone, and the organization was running smoothly. Then one day a crisis struck and investigation revealed that Jerry was not… Read More »Does Effective Leadership Mean Popularity?
In 1970, Robert Greenleaf wrote an essay titled, “The Servant-Leader Within.” A few years later he revised his essay and since then the concept of servant leadership has become one of the buzz phrases of the management – leadership lexicon. What strikes me about Greenleaf’s writing is not that he… Read More »What is Servant Leadership?
I may not be writing these articles much longer. You see, I’ve apparently hit the financial trifecta and am about to become extremely wealthy. On the same day last week I was informed that I had won the European lottery, a Nigerian prince was giving me several tens of millions… Read More »A Good Method for Building Trust
Shortly after arriving in the new organization, I asked why we were doing certain tasks that didn’t seem to make sense. This was my first job as an airplane mechanic. I was very young, impressionable and quite curious. So I was disappointed when another mechanic told me not to bother… Read More »Don’t Raise Mushrooms
“Captain, are you sure you want us to x-ray this panel?” The phone call sent a chill down my spine. I had failed in leadership and open communication. While it is common to use an x-ray to detect cracks in aircraft parts, this panel had an explosive device attached which… Read More »Did I Really Say That? – Leadership and Open Communication