News You Can Use
Being you in your best light starts with well, you – the food you eat, the sleep you get, and the amount of time you spend scrolling the Internet. So to save you on time and some sanity, we collected all the News You Can Use for you.
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Not Too Tricky Productivity Boosters
Learning how to be productive doesn’t have to be tricky. Enjoy a list of 19 ideas to practice throughout your day, starting today!
Investing in Creative Potential
“Creativity doesn’t spark in a vacuum. Nurturing it with the right ingredients and trusting in the eventual payoff is what sets a creative business apart.”
Struggling to fit in? Don't. Your difference is your gift.
“When I started on this journey, the intention was to share stories and insights that made leadership accessible to more people. To eliminate the pedestal and show that leaders are human, we make mistakes, and we struggle. I wanted to break down barriers and myths that would cause anyone to think ‘leadership isn’t for me.'”
How Leaders Can Control Their Frustrations with Team Members
“No leader can avoid or hide from adversity and frustration. Intelligent leaders are self-aware and emotionally intelligent enough to realize they can deal with frustration by exercising emotional control. Preparing for rough situations ahead of time allows leaders to respond to frustration rather than react to it.”
How to Fire An Employee
“Firing an employee is the worst part of any leaders’ job. Done poorly, it can damage not only your team but the reputation of your entire organization.”
How to Use Your Time Effectively and Efficiently
“The Problem
You are required to get more done in less time. Today, it is easy to feel overwhelmed due to various factors.”
Leaders Need To Provide Feedback In The Moment. That's How People Learn.
Anne Mulcahy, the former CEO of Xerox who now serves on the boards of Johnson & Johnson and Williams-Sonoma, among others, shares timely insights.
What Can A Speaker Do To Be Remembered?
“We want to be remembered. The challenge that we are facing is that we are talking to a diverse audience. Everyone who is listening to us is different and they all remember things differently. We need to understand how they remember and then find ways to make them remember us.”
The Self-Defeating Habits That Are Holding Back Even Great Leaders
“We’re all subject to moments of self-defeating behavior. Generally they’re coping tools, triggered by uncertainty and the need to feel that we’re in control during challenging times. An occasional episode is nothing to worry about. But when self-defeating behavior becomes a habit, it becomes a problem.”
Learn the New Language of Transformational Leadership
“Although many leaders want to apply the concept of transformational and adaptive leadership, we need to learn the new language of transformational leadership.”
How to Build Workplace Passion
“It is well documented that many folks are not passionate about their work. According to Deloitte research, ‘Up to 87.7 percent of America’s workforce is not able to contribute to their full potential because they don’t have passion for their work.'”
The Senior Executive Guide to Running Hybrid Meetings with Impact
“Hybrid meetings are fraught with proximity bias and often exclude remote employees. Here’s how you can run an equitable, efficient gathering.”
What Are Your Leadership Derailers?
“Here’s the thing: we all want to be better leaders.
But too often we focus on what to do as leaders while neglecting what not to do.”
A Time-Tested Strategy for Leaders Facing a “Perfect Storm”
“A perfect storm is the term for treacherous, simultaneous weather and oceanic conditions – such as strong waves, powerful winds, and torrential rain – that conspire to create dangerous seas. In business, leaders are facing a perfect storm of a different sort.”
6 Ways to Control Your Jargon
“The problem is that to be successful in any endeavor you’ll need to communicate and influence others to support you – to buy your product or service, fund your research or donate to your cause. To call people to action, we must connect with them and build their understanding.”
Why Leaders Can’t Be Loners
“At the heart of servant leadership is relationships. It’s not about you. To the contrary. It’s all about them, your colleagues, the employees who report to you, and your customers and vendors. And it’s all about the people you impact in this world, either with a scowl or a smile on your face.”
The Most Effective Communication Channels at Work
“Today’s workplace is not only a fast-paced environment, but also one that is increasingly more fragmented, with ever-changing technologies and hybrid and distributed workplace models. With so many competing priorities and so many communication channels, how do you make an impact with senior leadership?”
One Simple Way for Leaders to Build Trust
“What’s the single most effective way for a leader to build trust with his or her employees? It’s to show that you genuinely care about your employees’ career well-being. And one of the simplest ways to do this is to maintain consistent, non-distracted face-to-face (or video chat, or phone conversation) time with those you lead.”
Seven Ways to Immediately Improve Retention
“While there are many facets to talent retention, too often individual leaders look to the organization and/or HR to find solutions that keep the best talent onboard. Yet, there is much individual leaders can do to improve talent retention.”
Research: The Real-Time Impact of Microaggressions
“Just 3% of Black professionals report feeling ready to return to in-person work as compared to 21% of their white peers. One reason is that remote work has buffered them from microaggressions: intentional or unintentional behaviors that communicate negative racial slights and insults toward people of color.”
In Defense of Office Politics
“At its core, office politics is about relationships with colleagues and decision-makers. And nurturing those relationships can go a long way toward advancing your career goals.”
24 Ways to Challenge People Without Being a Jerk-Hole
“Performance is about rigorous standards, high expectations, clear goals, and providing support.
Challenge people and be tenderhearted.”
Read the full article here
5 Risky Imbalances That Keep Businesses From The Results They Expect
“Constantly having to react to crises and regain ground is not healthy for growth nor transformation. Here’s how to fix it.”
What’s the Surprising Secret to Retaining Great Employees?
“Research indicates that the one surprising secret of retaining great employees is helping them set goals that align with their values. All the hard work that leadership puts into creating a perfect work culture is worth nothing if it doesn’t address the real heart of why people pick up and move…”
How to Get Better at Using Inclusive Language in the Workplace
“To put it frankly, inclusive language doesn’t often come naturally, even for people who believe in and advocate for the value of diversity. Using intentional, inclusive language requires us to continually examine our unconscious biases and linguistic customs.”
Strategic Leadership: Understanding its Purpose and Core Attributes
“You can’t have strategy without leadership. Strategy formulation requires a clearly defined vision, long-term goals, useful tools, and a plan to win. But without the guidance of an insightful leader who can drive the process, it is difficult to make any strategy a reality.”
Now Is a Critical Time to Create an Upward Spiral of Positivity
“Today’s prevalence of negative emotions begs the question: How can leaders cultivate a culture that produces a steady flow of positive emotions? And besides making the relational culture more enjoyable and less stressful, why is this important?”
Eight Steps to Achieving a High-Performance Culture
“Creating a high-performance culture is often touted as the holy grail of today’s organisations. It is an elusive concept, with many thinkers and practitioners offering their version of what creates such a culture.”
6 Common Ways We Rationalize Staying Silent When We'd Be Better Off Speaking Up
“The pressure to be silent comes in a dizzying array of disguises, internal and external. Here are some common excuses or rationalizations I’ve used for remaining silent when it would have been better for me to speak up.”
Think You Have a Great Idea? Ask These 6 Questions to Gain Perspective
“When you have an exciting new idea, it’s easy to focus on all its benefits and jump to action. But doing so can lead to failure. Your limited perspective may mean you’re not seeing potential hurdles — and you may be leaving other promising options unexplored.”
Ask Better Questions
“We’re trained by school and work to come up with convincing answers, but where do we learn how to ask better questions? After all, every big idea can be traced back to a thoughtful question.”
Important Questions to Ask to Become a Better Leader
“In a recent conversation with a colleague, we pondered the most important questions to ask to help evaluate the quality of a relationship. Admittedly, at the time we were discussing a romantic relationship, but as the conversation continued, we realized the same questions could be applied by leaders who want to understand their impact on a team and the individuals who comprise it.”
Persuasion, Hollywood Style
“Professors Peter Desberg and Jeffrey Davis explain how leaders can enhance their persuasive skills by mastering the craft of the pitch.”
8 Ways to Help You Handle Uncomfortable Team Meetings
“No matter how great your team is, sometimes you’ll need to address them as a group on challenging, uncomfortable topics—which can stress out even experienced leaders.”
Having Trouble Prioritizing? Ask Yourself, "What is My 'Picasso' Today?"
Laurie Schultz, a veteran technology CEO and board director, shared timely insights with me and my colleague, David Reimer, CEO of The ExCo Group.
A Better Way to Drive Your Business
“Integrated business planning is a well-known process, particularly among supply chain leaders. But in most companies, P&L owners are missing out.”
Maybe We Don't Want Everyone Rowing in the Same Direction
“‘Rowing in the same direction’ sounds nice—especially for a crew team, which I’ll address later—but what might it imply in the business world? Are things really that simple? I would argue that the concept of ‘direction’ is much more complex than it sounds.”
Trying Times: Release Negativity and Lead with Vitality
“Anger, fear and hopelessness. If you’ve experienced any of these emotions lately, join the club.”
Author Talks: Flex Your 'No Muscle'
“Nonpromotable work profoundly affects women’s careers and lives. In her new book, Lise Vesterlund explains why women so often agree to it—and how they can say no.”
Tips for Practicing One-on-One Listening to Improve Internal Communications
“As a manager, you likely recognize the value of active listening as an essential sales and marketing external communication competency for surfacing customer needs, handling objections, and building trusting relationships and brand loyalty. But do you underestimate listening’s vital role in internal communication?”
5 Keys to Perfecting Your Presentation Delivery in a Hybrid World
“If I were to ask you to describe the average hybrid presentation, what words would you use? Clunky? Awkward? Disjointed? Distracting? There’s a good reason for that: Presenting to both in-person and virtual teams is still somewhat new.”
4 Hard Things Leaders Do
“The hard things leaders do make them glorious. A bird in flight is glorious. There’s glory in just being human. Stars at night sing glory. Effortless glory is wonderful. But there’s another kind of glory that’s seen in the hard things leaders do.”
Ego is the Enemy of Good Leadership
“The inflated ego that comes with success – the bigger salary, the nicer office, the easy laughs – often makes us feel as if we’ve found the eternal answer to being a leader. But the reality is, we haven’t.”
Why Great Employees Leave Great Cultures
“The best companies recognize that there are three elements to a culture: behaviors, systems, and practices, all guided by an overarching set of values. A great culture is what you get when all three of these are aligned, and line up with the organization’s espoused values.”
How to Make Your Virtual Team Meetings More Engaging
“Webinars, video calls, chats, and video conferences are some of the different forms of virtual meetings. However, regardless of the technology you choose to host your meetings on, having no face-to-face contact may result in several team members feeling disengaged and may not be able to contribute effectively.”
How to Be Clear and Powerful When Presenting Your Ideas
“Do you know how to deliver a speech with maximum impact? Here’s how to be clear and powerful when presenting your ideas. ”
To Sound Like a Leader, Think About What You Say, and How and When You Say It
“Whether you are an associate manager or a senior executive, what you say, how you say it, when you say it, to whom you say it, and whether you say it within the proper context are critical components of your strategic leadership potential.”
This is How to Get People to Change: 5 Secrets from Research
“We often go about trying to help in all the wrong ways. We know that lectures probably don’t help — but we often find ourselves doing it anyway. It’s like the reasons we give them for changing have almost no effect at all…”
What's Your Listening Style?
“We may have learned that we need to let people speak without interrupting but taking turns talking does not truly denote listening.”
Why Taking the Long View Matters Most Right Now
“No leader wants simply to talk about the future — they want to reach it. To do that, your leadership in this moment must reflect that future.”
How to Handle Difficult Leadership Team Members
“As unfortunate as it might sound, there seems to be at least one difficult member on most leadership teams. We all know the profile—they struggle to collaborate, feel like they are always right, and dismiss others’ perspectives.”
Dysfunctional Organizational Communications
“After three decades as a business improvement consultant, you’d think I would have gotten used to how poor the communications are in some organizations, but it still shocks me. I talk with senior managers who tell me they have no clear idea of their company’s vision or direction.”
Here is How to Give Your Boss Feedback Without Being Afraid of Backlash
“It can make anyone, no matter how senior or experienced, nervous when they have to give feedback to someone higher up on the chain, someone who has power over them. No wonder!”
3 Strategies for Leading Through Difficult Times
“Here are three practical strategies for leaders to take care of themselves, all centering around understanding and managing one’s own mind: Beware of your ego; choose courage over comfort; and practice caring transparency.”
What Leaders Need to Know Before Trying a 4-Day Work Week
“While there is no easy way to address concerns about how (and how much) we work, research tells us that no matter what we do, taking a holistic, long-term focus on the well-being of the workforce is the best path to both happiness and prosperity.”
Office Politics Don't Have to Be Toxic
“Office politics might seem unpleasant, but the ability to build relationships, access opportunities, and influence others is critical for anyone’s professional development.”
Using Emojis to Connect with Your Team
“Employees don’t check their emotions at the office door — or Zoom room. But it can be harder to read how your team is feeling when you’re working remotely or in a hybrid office.”
The Best Way to Prepare and Practice a Presentation
“Do all the work necessary to understand your listeners and what you want to accomplish. Then let it go, trusting in the moment of performance to make it happen.”
Author Talks: A New Way to Think About Management
“Predicting the future is impossible, but traditional business models try anyway. Roger Martin says management leaders need to revisit the whiteboard.”
The Art of Persuading Unreasonable Colleagues
“When faced with conflicting opinions, one in four of our study participants reported that people within their organizations predominantly relied on manipulation or coercion to get their way.”
AI vs. Humans, Part II
“In an article entitled “AI vs. humans, part I,” I opined upon the promise and peril of artificial intelligence as it comes to occupy an increasingly consequential role in our economy and culture. I called it “part I” because there are many implications of AI that we haven’t anticipated and don’t yet understand.”
Leading the Overly Self-Critical Employee
“You’ve probably noticed that your most confident employees are also among some of your most productive and satisfied. But have you ever encountered an employee who seems confident on the outside, but yet in conversation, they reveal hyper-criticism of their successes?”
You Don't Like Your New Boss. What Should You Do?
“Starting a new job always comes with a few unexpected challenges. One that is especially hard to navigate is a strained relationship with your new boss.”
What Leadership Development Should Look Like in the Hybrid Era
“As organizations and individuals around the world settle into a blend of in-person and virtual work, we’re learning more about the opportunities and risks hybrid brings.”
A Guide to Implementing the 4 Day Workweek
“As organizations continue to explore a variety of flexible work options, one promising avenue is the four-day workweek: The standard 40 hours per week is reduced to 32 hours, with the same pay and the same productivity expectations.”
The Future of Flexibility at Work
“What does true flexibility look like? Most organizations approach it in one of two ways: as an ad hoc work-life accommodation available upon request, or as giving people permission to get their work done on their own schedule — as long as they’re available to answer emails or put out fires 24/7.”
Employee Motivation: A Powerful New Model
“Motivating employees begins with recognizing that to do their best work, people must be in an environment that meets their basic emotional drives to acquire, bond, comprehend, and defend.”
5 Ways to Control Your Phone Habit
“We innocently check our email, peek at Instagram, Facebook, YouTube or a myriad of other apps, and suddenly we are lost in the netherworld. The path behind us has disappeared, and our brains are taking in dopamine rewards to continue down the path of new stimulation.”
Why This Leader is Totally Cool with His Top Players Moving On
“If you’re offended when an employee decides to go, you’re probably doing something wrong as a manager. And if using a turnover propensity index sounds like a neat idea (and perhaps quite soon, a convenient app) to avert workforce departures, your paranoid insecurity indicates that you’re most definitely doing something wrong as a manager.”
Potent Communication: 9 People Skills Tips That Make It Easy
“Highly-effective communication — aka potent communication — distinguishes successful people from unsuccessful people. Everyone can communicate well if they have the desire and the know-how.”
The Value of Embarrassment
“I’m intimately familiar with embarrassment. I’ve been embarrassed by not knowing the answer. I’ve been embarrassed by something I said. I’ve been embarrassed by something I wrote. And I’ve been embarrassed by failure and poor performance.
4 Steps to Creating a Strategy in an Uncertain World
“The past few years have seen unprecedented disruptions, and companies are finding it nearly impossible to plan for the future. Such a volatile environment requires a new approach to devising strategy.”
Stop Telling CEOs to Be Empathetic
“Simply ordering CEOs to be more empathetic isn’t that helpful. To lead with empathy and build a positive organizational culture, CEOs should draw on a cognitive power that great leaders already possess in spades: curiosity.”
How to Be a Smarter Presenter When it Comes to Using PowerPoint
“Recently, I conducted a day-long workshop for a national group of anesthesiologists. These successful doctors were interested in improving their presentations to colleagues. Even they—experts at sedation—realized that they shouldn’t be putting audiences to sleep.”
Too Wordy? 7 Ways to Speak Concisely!
“For one thing, we write in sentences; but we speak in ideas. So, speaking from a manuscript is one of the ways you can sound too wordy.”
How You Can Become a Listening STAR
“Over the last few years I’ve conducted many sales workshops where people practice different skill sets. One such workshop was on active listening skills. Good listening skills are just as important for leaders as they are for salespeople.”
4 Ways to Lead with Courage Today
“Imagine you learn how to make the best possible decisions. Apart from courage you’re still stuck.”
What's Most Needed from Managers Right Now
“At the risk of generalizing, I find that managers typically fall into one of two camps—those who are most comfortable following a playbook that rarely changes, and those who relish the idea of writing a new one for their job.”
Leaders Have to be Able to Live with Their Decisions and Fully Own Them
“Linda Hudson, a veteran CEO and board director, and founder of The Cardea Group, shared timely insights with Adam Bryant and colleague, David Reimer, CEO of The ExCo Group.”
Will Employees Feel Abandoned if You Don't Know Enough About Their Work?
“A lot of people are actually uncomfortable when their boss doesn’t have any personal experience of their work. They may lack confidence in their boss or even discount their authority and behave rebelliously toward them.”
What Are You Avoiding?
“Avoidance. We all do it, whether it’s keeping away from someone or not doing something. What are you avoiding?”
Don't Confuse Strategy with Lofty Goals
“Most companies communicate strategy as a set of aspirations and platitudes. But aspirations aren’t strategy, and that mode of communication leaves employees in the dark.”
Empathetic Leadership Begins with Love
“In the workplace, all the turbulence means that employees are still finding solid ground. Empathy in the workplace is needed now more than ever.”
How to Rethink Communicating Company Culture
“Culture has little or nothing to do with what people wear, social events, and office perks. Culture is defined by how we work and how we treat each other. Here’s why.”
Boundaries Are Essential - And as CEO, It Starts with Me
“Quitting is the ultimate expression of a boundary—and too many employees are going there. Here’s how one CEO is stemming the tide.”
Leading with Spine
“What does it mean to lack spine? It means you will do whatever is necessary to keep your job. A lack of spine is a reflection of willful ambiguity.”
Complainers: 5 Ways to Limit the Garbage People Pour Into Your Ears
“Cy Wakeman’s research with one company showed employees spent almost 2.5 hours a day dealing with drama. Drama most often came from b*tching, moaning, and whining (BMW).
5 Strategies for Using Your Hands in Presentations
“The simple answer is: Do what comes naturally. Use your hands as you would in conversation, though adapted to your environment.”
Emotional Intelligence Has Never Been More Important for Leaders
“EQ doesn’t come naturally to everyone—even the best leaders. Here are five key components to work on developing the muscle.”
The Big Truth About Micromanagement
“I’ve had many leaders ask me this question. What do I need to know about micromanagement? It’s a great question. It’s an important question because no one likes it. Right?”
Expose it All: How to Kill Office Gossip
“By sharing everything other than how much someone makes or why someone left — those exceptions are out of respect for the individual — we mostly eliminated the suspicion and resentment that flows so easily from not knowing what’s really going on.”
The Suite Spot: Reaching, Leading and Delivering the C-Suite
“Below, John shares 5 key insights from his new book, The Suite Spot: Reaching, Leading and Delivering the C-Suite.”
What Should a Speaker Do When Disaster Strikes?
“I think that we can all agree that disaster can take on many forms when it comes to delivering a speech in public. However, I think that if you are on a stage and you lose your train of thought and can’t remember what you wanted to say next, then that can count as a speaking disaster.”
How Managers (Unintentionally) Roadblock an Empowered Team
“Most managers will say they want those outcomes and that they believe in an empowered team, but unintentionally prevent their teams from doing their best.”
Employees vs Customers: Who is More Important?
“As a business leader, you shouldn’t prioritize one group over another. Instead, you should link employees and customers.”
Is Your Approach Parent-Child Management or Adult-to-Adult Leadership?
“Sometimes when we’re under stress we regress and try to hold on to the way things used to be even if they no longer work. For that reason, I think it’s worth revisiting some distinctions between old school parent-child management that drives disengagement and present-day adult-to-adult leadership that drives engagement.”
Four Commitments Audiences Want from their Speakers
“If these (implicit) commitments are adhered to, the audience will get a complete sense of a persona from the speaker, one that is memorable, effective, and well-rounded.”
4 Powerful Ways to Manage Stress, Bounce Back
“Advice such as sticking to regular workouts, adhering to everyday routines, eating healthily and finding humor was shelved as nice to have but useless when you’re in the middle of chaos.”
4 Great Questions to Help with Your Decision Making
“I’ve also used these questions on myself when I’m facing a big decision, and they’ve been super helpful for me too. And now, I’ve decided to share them with you in this week’s post of The Leader’s Digest.”
How Anyone Can be a Mentor
“In addition to the traditional one-on-one mentoring relationships in which a more senior mentor is paired with a more junior mentee, organizations are adopting lesser-known mentoring configurations, like peer mentoring, mentoring circles and, a personal favorite, complementary mentoring.”
10 Practical Ways to Create Mutually Beneficial Relationships
“Winning doesn’t have to be at someone’s expense. Instead of focusing on what you want, focus on how much you can accomplish together.”
How to Think on Your Feet: Speak Effectively Under Pressure!
“Add the prospects of an important audience, a resistant one, or tougher Q & A than you expected, and you may think the nearest barometer has suddenly gone haywire.”
The C-Suite Skills that Matter Most
“Landing a job as a CEO today is no longer all about industry expertise and financial savvy. What companies are really seeking are leaders with strong social skills.”
Admitting What You Don't Know is Key to Effective Leadership
“Over two decades teaching business students and coaching executives, I’ve seen firsthand how outdated notions of leadership still persist. Leaders are imagined to always be in control and ready with the right answer.”
The Elements of Strategic Persuasion
“Good communication helps employees become more involved in their work and helps them to develop a better understanding of their role. Clear, precise and timely communication of information also prevents the occurrence of organizational problems.”
How Speakers Can Deal With An Audience That Is Distracted
“In this day and age, there is a very good chance that some of the members of your audience may not be giving you all of their attention. Instead they may be using their mobile phones to text or tweet while you speak. What’s a speaker to do?”
To Improve Management, Build a Decision Factory
“As the number of rote tasks that are automated increases, many more employees are being freed for higher-level work that entails decision-making.”
Preventing Strategy Scope Creep
“Scope creep is quite common in the business world. An organization with a clearly defined business vision gets so far away from the original purpose, it is unrecognizable.”
The One Skill You Need to Succeed
“Perhaps you are thinking I am pretty presumptuous to suggest I know the most important skill you need. After all, I don’t know you, your experience, or what you do for a living.”
Freud's Answers for the Great Resignation
“The father of psychoanalysis had a theory about love and work—lieben und arbeiten—which offers great opportunity for leaders willing to consider it.”
A Vision and a Plan to Achieve It are Two Different Things
“Almost all people believe having goals is important. Many actually have written their goals down. Few however, have any kind of a formal plan for how, and when, they will achieve those goals.”
Arrive and Thrive: 7 Impactful Practices for Women Navigating Leadership
“Below, Susan, Janet, and Lynn share 5 key insights from their new book, Arrive and Thrive: 7 Impactful Practices for Women Navigating Leadership.”
All Those Zoom Meetings May Boost Connection and Curb Loneliness
“Zoom fatigue became a thing during the height of the pandemic, but research by Amit Goldenberg shows how virtual interactions can provide a salve for isolation.”
The Leadership Mindset That Sparks Miraculous 'Aha!
“Have you ever experienced the elation of an ‘aha!’ moment? An ‘aha!’ moment is a miraculous little pocket of discovery when seemingly disparate things in life finally gel together in a way that just makes sense.”
What Kind of Scared Are You?
“Most leaders fit into one of these three fear archetypes. The CEOs who can honestly self-assess are the ones who have a prayer of turning their fear into opportunity.”
How to Run a Meeting
“Why is it that any single meeting may be a waste of time, an irritant, or barrier to the achievement of an organization’s objectives?”
8 Ground Rules for Great Meetings
“If you want your team to be effective, you need meeting ground rules — and you need agreement about how to use them. Many teams that have ground rules don’t regularly use them.”
Stop Rambling in Meetings - And Start Getting Your Message Across
“While it’s important to share your point of view in meetings, it’s critical to know when and how. You don’t want to monopolize the conversation.”
How to Design an Agenda for an Effective Meeting
“To prevent holding a meeting in which participants are unprepared, veer off-track, or waste the team’s time, you should create an effective meeting agenda that sets clear expectations for what needs to occur before and during the meeting.”
Trust & Inspire: How Truly Great Leaders Unleash Greatness in Others
“Below, Stephen shares 5 key insights from his new book, Trust & Inspire: How Truly Great Leaders Unleash Greatness in Others.”
Helping the Next Generation of Leaders Develop Themselves
“As someone who is dedicated to trying to help others learn and grow ‘I know enough’ are shocking words to me. Especially when they come from a relatively young person.”
A 5-Step Response to Employee Concerns About Work-Life Balance
“Experienced leaders are coming to grips with a younger workforce that wants more out of life than working long stressful hours.”
How Mentoring an Experienced Employee Works
“As we discussed his role, and the objectives of the mentoring program, it became clearer to Jason that mentoring an experienced employee had nuances he hadn’t considered.”
3 Common Myths of Coaching (and What's True Instead)
“Coaching is a leadership superpower. Coaching saves you time. It helps you delegate. It improves performance, builds capability and helps tap into everyone’s creative process.”
6 Actions CEOs Can Take Right Now to Spark an Innovation Culture
“An analysis of 210 specific business traits, grouped into five categories to identify those that drive financial performance, led to the following traits that can be found in innovation-driven cultures.”
Tough Times Don't Last, Tough People Do: A Day in the Life of Luvleen Sidhu
“Luvleen Sidhu is the youngest female founder to take a company public as the chair, CEO, and founder of BMTX, formerly known as BankMobile.”
4 Timeless Leadership Lessons You Can Learn from Months of Zoom Meetings
“Even as the restrictions brought upon us by the pandemic abate, and as we begin to return to the office, the strange and sudden world of Zoom meetings has provided a profound laboratory for discerning key leadership principles…”
3 Signs of a Great Leader with Upstanding Character
“Lots of leaders are articulate, polished and know the right words to say. But when push comes to shove, is every leader going to do the right thing and practice what they preach?”
We Underestimate Others' Desire for Constructive Feedback
“Giving feedback is notoriously difficult to do, especially if it’s constructive feedback, as we fear how the other person may respond to it. Research from Harvard Business School suggests our fears may be overblown.”
How to Think Strategically as a Leader
“There are goals to pursue. There are people to manage. And every day new problems arise that make pursuing those goals or supporting those people more difficult. Amid all these demands, it can be difficult to think any more deeply than just reacting to the moment.”
So You've Decided to Bungle Your Company's Flexible Work Plan
“Last month, I was discussing the U.S.’s back-to-work plans with a vice-president of a large U.S.-based company. Like a lot of companies, their grand plans just keep getting delayed. ‘We tried going back to the office,’ he sighed. ‘And everyone got Covid.'”
How to Avoid Fire-Drill Leadership to Build Your Leadership Effectiveness
“If everything is an emergency, nothing is an emergency. The truth of this leadership axiom is lost on many leaders who seem to lurch their leadership, and their team, from one panic-riddled crisis to another.”
Building Your Company Culture: The Key to Being Lean and Successful
“A lot of companies fail to scale because they think the key to scaling is to be lean. The real key is to develop your company culture.”
Why Self-Care isn't a 4 Letter Word
“I grew up in a world where you did your work without complaining. We didn’t think about self-care. It’s an unrealistic way to live. However, confusion about self-care is destructive.”
Do You Know How to Lead with Questions?
“Diverse teams are essential to having the best productivity, but how does someone go about leading them?”
Executive Spotlight: Craig McCullough, Public Sector SVP with Riverbed
“Craig McCullough, SVP of public sector business with Riverbed, recently spoke with ExecutiveBiz about joining the company, his strategic goals and how he is addressing the unique challenges of talent recruitment in the federal sector and innovating the capabilities for their customers during the latest Executive Spotlight interview.”
4 Hacks to Stop Questioning if You're Good Enough
“High-performers often wonder if we’re measuring up. These tools give you the ruler.”
The Leadership Trust Crisis
“I suspect the drop in trust stems from a variety of factors including the global pandemic, corporate scandals, and political unrest. Whatever the cause, global leaders ignore the trust crisis at their peril.”
Where Are You Putting Your Energy? Into Dreams or Dread?
“The world has often felt upside down over the last 2+ years. In some moments, we may have been inspired to try new things. Other times we may have struggled to cope.”
3 Times Employee Communication is Essential
“Communication is more than a ‘feel good’ part of any organization. The business world, the real world, employees’ worlds—all are continuing to change at an accelerated pace, leaving communicators and leaders with the daunting challenge of keeping employees focused, committed and engaged.”
Stop Avoiding Office Politics
“‘I won’t do it,’ he said. ‘I don’t care who they are; I won’t buddy up to people I don’t like and respect just because I want something from them.'”
Playing Office Politics without Selling Your Soul
“Politics is a dirty word. But office politics are unavoidable. Fortunately, not all politics are bad, and there’s a way to play the game without selling your soul.”
How Leaders Create and Use Networks
“Most people acknowledge that networking—creating a fabric of personal contacts to provide support, feedback, insight, and resources—is an essential activity for an ambitious manager.”
Make Your Enemies Your Allies
“Rivalries in the workplace can be destructive to both personal career growth and group success. Many attempts to reverse rivalries fail because of the complex way emotion and reason operate in the building of trust.”
Leverage Your Leadership Style
“Leaders who understand how they ‘operate’ — what makes them tick, how they solve problems and their communication preferences — can more easily identify their strengths and potential weaknesses, develop self-awareness and emotional intelligence, and understand the impact of their behaviors on others.”
How to Lead through a No-Win Scenario
“There will be times when you face outcomes you intensely dislike. A seeming no-win scenario is also a chance to distinguish yourself, earn people’s trust, and innovate.”
Listening is Key to Effective Communication
“People want to know their manager cares about what they think—and they want to feel heard. Excellent communication skills are essential for every manager.”
How to Create a Compelling Narrative that Connects with Senior Execs
“One of the leadership communications distinctions I’ve been thinking about a lot this year is the difference between communications that are episodic and those that are longitudinal.”
100% Remote Work? Not Even a Remote Chance
“While there are exceptions to every rule, I’m convinced working from home will, and should, continue to be the exception in how we go about business.”
Why Your Speaking Voice is So Important in Business
“You realize, don’t you, that you are one of the most valuable elements of your speeches? That important presentation would literally be nothing without you.”
Outdated Assumptions that Undermine Employee Retention
“Despite recent high-profile examples of rescinded offers, it’s still a seller’s employment market with two jobs for every unemployed American. And even as inflation rages and economic contraction looms, employee retention remains a pressing issue.”
What You Lose with Your New Strategy
“Most failures are the result of fairly predictable challenges, including one factor that is constantly overlooked: the role and impact of loss.”
Maximize Your Learning Time with These Seven Habits
“Time for learning can feel like a luxury. After a long day, it often feels like there isn’t energy for anything other than watching television and falling asleep. Who has time to learn philosophy, French or painting?”
The Single Best Way to Respond to Questions
“Some leaders don’t have time for questions. Others are afraid of questions. They think, ‘What if I don’t have the answer?'”
Stop Saying 'I'm Sorry' at Work - And Use These 3 Phrases Instead
“A 2012 study published in The European Journal of Social Psychology found potential psychological benefits to avoiding apologies: 95% of participants who refused to express remorse after offending someone showed signs of ‘greater self-esteem, increased feelings of power (or control) and integrity.'”
10 Ways to Keep Employees from Leaving
“What makes good employees leave? The biggest things that drive employees away have nothing to do with money — and everything to do with leadership.”
How to Tactfully Interject in a Virtual Meeting
“Interjecting during virtual meetings can be challenging when working on a distributed team, but it’s a skill worth cultivating.”
How to Communicate Effectively at Work
“Communication is the lifeblood of any relationship. And that’s especially true for the leader-teammate relationship.”
What Lizzo Taught Me about Power and Influence
“Thanks to an inordinate amount of musical talent and the popularity of her self-affirming songs, she also has power and influence. A lot of power and influence. And she’s using it.”
Curiosity at Work: 5 Opportunities to Show Up a Bit More Curious
“Need to have a performance feedback conversation with an under-performing employee? There’s no better place to start than with curiosity.”
5 Questions to Improve Your Leadership Effectiveness
“Being an effective leader requires a lot of hard work. You need to be continuously aware of how you’re leading others and how they respond.”
Why Leaders Must Protect Mavericks
“The mavericks in your organization deserve your attention and protection even if they’re not top gun superstars. They can be the keys to fabulous success—but only if you abide by one inviolable caveat.”
How Small Moments of Praise Make a Big Difference
“During pre-pandemic in-person weekly lab meetings and recent virtual ones, the period when the shout-outs were read, or delivered in the moment by participants, has become a favorite part of the lab’s weekly routine.”
Inner Peace - Be Cool, Calm, and Collected
“Some folks are wealthy, but their relationships are poor. They have a big title at work but aren’t much of a Dad or Mom at home.”
How Leaders Can Escape their Echo Chambers
“While leaders are broadly aware of the importance of creating a psychologically safe culture to encourage candor, they are less cognizant of how subtle leadership behaviors can get in the way of people speaking up.”
4 Scientific Reasons Why Employees Love Empathetic Leaders
“You can imagine how pumped I got when I learned from the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit that empathy skills help a person read the mind of others, which came in mighty handy with a job like mine.”
Are You a Leadership Fool?
“Some people like being fooled so much that when they can’t find somebody to fool them they will fool themselves.”
Are You Talking Too Much?
“Actually, it’s our goal to help all leaders be more productive, successful, and confident. Today, I am answering a question about how much leaders talk. Are you ready?”
How Do You Handle Disrespectful Questions?
“Sometimes, your audience includes that person. The one who has an ax to grind, who’s having a bad day, or who ‘enjoys’ being hostile in public. What do you do when that person aims their anger, negativity, or disrespect at you with a hostile question?”
The Problem with Traditional Business Benchmarks
“This CEO and his staff used to spend hours filling out surveys to be included in benchmarking studies, but in the end, the most valuable measurement for the company was its own numbers.”
Working Through Your On-Camera Meeting Anxiety
“On-camera meetings aren’t going away, and they can be particularly nerve-wracking for people with anxiety. This article offers five questions to ask yourself to help quell on-camera meeting stress.”
Exclusive: Jim Collins on ‘Thriving In Chaos’
“What does it take to create a truly great, lasting company amid historic uncertainty and volatility? Based on decades of research, Jim Collins, best-selling author of the business classics Good to Great, Built to Last and Great by Choice, has some answers.”
Giving Permission: The Future of Leadership Begins Within
“One panelist was imparting wisdom to a group of young women about navigating the challenges of a career while still trying to have a life. The forum was focused on developing women leaders, but the message was universal for anyone intent on leading well, especially during challenging times.”
As the Leader, You Need to Make Calls. There is No Playbook and No Certainty.
“Gil Mandelzis, founder and CEO of Capitolis, shared key leadership lessons in our latest ‘Art of Leading’ interview.”
What's the Best Way to Connect with Your Audience Remotely?
“On one hand this is a good thing – we are being asked to give more speeches and we can share the importance of public speaking. On the other hand, it can be challenging to transform our in-person speech into a speech that works when presented on a computer screen.”
The Passive-Aggressive Colleagues who Poison Workplaces
“Whether on email or face to face, subtle digs are all over the workplace. This insidious behavior spares no-one – and it can grind down workers.”
Coworker Connections in the Virtual Workplace
“Collectively, 58% of the US workforce now has the opportunity to work from home at least part-time, meaning 92 million employees are rarely, if ever, in the office. Despite the lack of coworker connections, surveys keep showing the same thing.”
Love Your "Flaws"
“I’ve resisted this notion of loving my flaws for most of my life, worrying that if I loved the things I thought were wrong with me, they’d somehow never change, and I’d be stuck with them.”
Gender Bias Scale for Women Leaders
“While this scale was not designed to be scored at an individual level, individual women may use the scale questions to reflect on their own experiences. Many types of bias are subtle and unconscious.”
