Why is Abraham Lincoln one of, if not the most revered U.S. President? Lincoln exhibited leadership like few politicians before or since and we can still benefit from his example. Here are a few leadership lessons from Abraham Lincoln that are still applicable today. Make friends of your enemies. Lincoln… Read More »Leadership Lessons From Abraham Lincoln
Leadership, motivation, and employee engagement are among the most discussed subjects in business these days. Various studies are available indicating a large portion of the workforce is not engaged and there seems to be no end to suggestions for how to motivate people. I’ve created this brief employee engagement survey… Read More »An Employee Engagement Survey
Employee coaching is a critical element of your leadership development. Good coaching is a key to effective team development, but it can be a difficult skill to master. Here’s an example of an employee coaching session that did not go well. … Read More »Is Your Employee Coaching Effective or Are You Just Talking?
O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us! Robert Burns Improving leadership communication is a critical part of your leadership development. One way to be more effective is to understand what we don’t hear. With apologies to Robert Burns, we also don’t hear ourselves as… Read More »Leadership Communication: Did They Hear What You Really Meant
Early in my leadership career, I was at a dinner with about 100 other Air Force officers. The speaker that evening was Colonel Mal Wakin, a long-serving professor at the Air Force Academy. The subject was ethics. Col Wakin presented an interesting question. There had been a cheating scandal at… Read More »Leadership Development: The Importance of Trust
Are you treating all your employees in a fair and equal manner? Those two words are often considered synonymous; Roget’s Thesaurus even lists equal as a synonym for fair, but understanding them as very different concepts is a critical leadership skill to embrace in your leadership development. I often write… Read More »Leadership Development – The Difference Between Fair and Equal
Some of the most effective leadership development happens outside of formal leadership skills training. A leadership peer group can be a terrific training opportunity. A difficult situation was developing in one of my teams. I was at a loss for just the right approach to deal with the issue. Fortunately… Read More »Continuing Leadership Development: A Leadership Peer Group
As 2015 faded into memory many of us raised a glass and sang Auld Lang Syne, even if we don’t know what the words mean. Then a new year began. Have you made your resolutions for the new year? Hopefully you haven’t. Here’s a better idea. First, review your goals, both personal and… Read More »New Year’s resolutions? Resolve to set real goals instead!
Influence: the ability to affect the behavior of others. Is influence one of your leadership skills? With the trend toward virtual teams and matrixed organizations, leaders often find themselves in a position where they don’t feel they have real authority. Years ago I was in a leadership position in which… Read More »Three Secrets to Being an Influential Leader
Why is there conflict within my team? Why does it seem like John and I can’t communicate? Why can’t this be one of those high performance teams I hear about? How do I cut the drama? Have you asked yourself questions like these? The best part of working with people… Read More »Leading High Performance Teams – How Can I Cut the Drama?