No one’s perfect and when the average imperfect individual finds him or herself in a leadership position, there are suddenly many more opportunities to mess up. As the scope of responsibility grows, the likelihood of making mistakes increases. Here are some common mistakes leaders make that have nothing to do… Read More »Mistakes Leaders Make
A boss once told me a story about a friend of his. The friend had been offered a very coveted position, one that was highly sought, but for which few were chosen. That evening he went home to tell his family but before he could say much his teenage son… Read More »Work-Life Balance
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last month, you’ve no doubt heard of Southwest Airlines difficulties with holiday travel. Passengers found themselves stuck in places they didn’t intend to stay while their luggage found separate places to hang out for the holidays. The airline, whose stock symbol… Read More »Leadership Lessons from Southwest Airlines
You’re a good leader. Your team is successful, but there is one team member who is always contrary, who always causes trouble, and who is keeping your team from reaching the high levels you know they’re capable of. You have a toxic team member What do you do? This can… Read More »Do You Have a Toxic Team Member?
It seems that leadership and civility would be an easy discussion. Alas, it is not. Civility is a concept that seems to be lost in today’s society even though it is absolutely essential for good teams. A cultural shift has been happening and now it seems that being civil means… Read More »Leadership and Civility
Do you encourage a feeling of employee ownership in the company? Should you? I was speaking with a group of business owners a few years ago when the discussion swerved into how much they should tell their workers about company financials. The catalyst for this discussion was a complaint by… Read More »Is a Feeling of Employee Ownership Important?
As I scroll through LinkedIn I see lots of pictures of people being recognized for joining a team, some accomplishment, or just being them. Recognition is great and I hope you are recognizing the people on your teams. Recognition is an important part of creating the motivational environment that will… Read More »Recognition: A Picture is Not Enough
One of the most effective communication skills a leader can have is to stay on message. I was assigned to lead an organization that had various different and largely disparate responsibilities, none of which seemed to have much in common. We were a collection of small groups, but definitely not… Read More »Effective Communication Skills: Stay on Message
Do I have to like everyone on my team? Should all my team members like each other? The answer leads to team conflict resolution. Bad team conflict is to be expected and we’ve written about it before. That conflict comes from the fact that each one of us is a unique… Read More »Team Conflict Resolution
Leadership communication training is a critical aspect of your leadership development and effective communication is one of the most important skills for a leader to master. Learning how to communicate is vital, but it’s just as important to be aware of what you communicate. You are always communicating so it’s vitally important… Read More »What Are You Communicating as a Leader?