From the category archives:

Leadership

Recently I listened to a wonderful 10 minute HBR interview with 85-year old leadership guru Warren Bennis. Opening question: What are two or three of the characteristics of really great leaders?

1. Great leaders build great teams. “You can’t win this contest without a lot of help. It ain’t just one man.”

2. Great leaders have good judgment. Great leaders have the ability to select people who have the capacity to get things done AND play well with others in the sandbox.

I am impressed with Warren’s insights into the crucible of war and the crucible of age, sacrifice, generosity, respect and what he calls “leadership grace.”

Warren’s final question was: “If you want to be a great leader, you need to….”

How would you finish that sentence?

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Becoming a Reflective Leader

Leadership

Leaders tend to be people of action. Doers. Agents of change. That’s good and necessary because we all know that talk is cheap. Effective leadership is all about turning vision into action, right?

For me, problems arise when my bias toward action becomes a treadmill of ceaseless activity. This tires everyone out and inevitably leads to a loss of focus, loss of presence, personal fatigue and mission drift. This is when I become vulnerable to the temptation of lesser things: quick fix ‘solutions’ (sinful or otherwise) for urgent problems that mask a waning intimacy with my Source of power, life and strength.

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6 comments Read the full article → July 14, 2010

How to Engage Younger Leaders

Leadership

Here are some tips that I have learned from others or from my own experience in positively engaging younger leaders over the past decade:

1. Give them a piece of the action. This generation is not willing to wait 5-10 years in a job to start making a difference or having a voice.

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4 comments Read the full article → June 14, 2010

What Is Shared Leadership?

Leadership

Leadership is hard work. Good leadership is really hard work. Today’s dynamic, rapidly changing knowledge economy provides an ever-shifting landscape that requires multiple perspectives to navigate well. Exit the know-it-all, do-it-all leader. Enter the self-aware, in-touch connector that can share leadership by pulling people, resources and ideas together to get the job done. What is [...]

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3 comments Read the full article → June 9, 2010

What is Servant Leadership?

Leadership

More and more conversations revolve around the type of leadership required in our rapidly changing global culture. Many cite the “new skills” needed in this environment, such as trust-building, empathy, networking, and the ability to empower others. Though few will come out and label this package as such, it seems to me we’re really talking [...]

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3 comments Read the full article → June 3, 2010

Trust: Three Ways to Build It

Leadership

What’s the number one quality followers look for in leaders or peers they allow to influence them? Trust.* Trust is confidence based on previous experience. Trust is the foundation that must bear the daily load of bumps and bruises in every personal and working relationship. Trust often takes months or even years to build, but [...]

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3 comments Read the full article → May 20, 2010

The Power of Why

Leadership

Why did you get out of bed today? Seriously. For a paycheck? To keep your job? To avoid boredom? Or perhaps because you were eager to pursue your calling. Because you believe that what you do today might make a difference tomorrow. Because deep down inside you believe you can change the world. Here is [...]

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0 comments Read the full article → May 17, 2010