This is a guest post by Scott Miller, EVP of Thought Leadership, FranklinCovey, and author of Everyone Deserves a Great Manager: The 6 Critical Practices for Leading a Team. Have you ever worked for a bad manager? Nearly everyone knows what it’s like to work for a soul-crushing, morale-killing, please-don’t-make-me-go-to-work kind of manager. But if you’re fortunate, … [Read more...]
Tactics to Calm Yourself Down Fast
Last week, we shared a post by Quint Studer, "How to Handle Yourself During Stressful, Busy Times." This week, we're following up on the post by offering more advice from Struder, author of The Busy Leader’s Handbook: How to Lead People and Places That Thrive. You are going to be stressed, but you will only make it worse if you can't calm yourself down in the heat of moment. … [Read more...]
How to Stop Obsessing Over Your Leadership Mistakes
If you've never made a mistake at work, raise your hand. Chances are, your hand is NOT up. If it is, kudos. You might be the first person ever to not make a mistake on the job. Most of us do, especially in the early days of leadership, but even leaders who have been at for a long time slip up. They make bad personnel decisions, act without thinking, jump to conclusions, lash … [Read more...]
What is Your Leadership Contribution?
I’m a big fan of questions, both reflective and projective questions, to help us learn, grow, plan and succeed. Here is a question stem I conduct for myself and one I encourage leaders at all levels to conduct on a regular basis. It starts with the simple question: What is my contribution? This question stem leads to some useful questions for us to consider as leaders. … [Read more...]
Don’t Blame the Last Guy
This is a guest post from Pam Fox Rollin. You would never stoop to blame. Or would you? You're going to be tempted Especially if the person who last had the job was let go, demoted, or otherwise removed, you'll be tempted. But even if the last guy was elevated to his/her next walk-on-water job, you're still going to be tempted to blame him for your team's … [Read more...]
Overcome Your Distraction Addiction
There are lots of things people become addicted to. I believe one of the most prevalent isn’t ever mentioned in the same breath with the addictions you thought of as you were reading the first sentence. What can we do to deny the allure of the distraction, regain our focus, and maximize our productivity? Good questions. Here are some answers for you. Stop multi-tasking You … [Read more...]
Enhancing Your Social and Soft Skills Can Make You A Better Leader
This is a guest post by Career and Executive Coach, Dean Karrel. Dialogue about the importance of soft skills and social skills in business settings is nothing new. There have been books written on the subject, articles on business websites, and many stories in magazines. You’ve probably received emails about seminars or courses offered at local colleges. If you attend any … [Read more...]
5 Leadership Tips to Improve Your Bottom Line
I recently came across the article "Five Human Resource Tips to Improve Your Bottom Line," by Charlotte Canning, Vice President of Brand and Culture at Hoffer Plastics Corporation and while it absolutely applies to HR professionals, the advice is perfect for leaders, too. Here is Charlotte's best advice, as it relates to your leadership role. Protect employees' quality of … [Read more...]
Want Employees to Love What They Do? Here Are 4 Ways to Get There
Insights from Shawn Burcham, author of Keeping Score with GRITT: Straight Talk Strategies for Success Bosses might want to take notice if employees view their jobs as “the daily grind.” A disgruntled and disengaged workforce can undermine production and harm customer relations, while a happy, engaged workforce does the opposite. “If you take care of your employees, they … [Read more...]
3 Leadership Tips You Can Probably Forget
We're in the business of offering leadership and workplace advice, but even we can admit some advice runs its course. The times change, making that once sage advice obsolete. Or it just doesn't fit the same situations it once did. It's safe to say that there is always a chance the advice will be relevant again, but for right now, here are three nuggets you can forget. Don’t … [Read more...]