Michael Hyatt builds a pretty compelling case for why leaders should be voracious readers in his post 5 Ways Reading Makes You a Better Leader, and he is not the only one touting the benefits. Many experts believe that reading is a major key to your success as a leader, and I agree. Reading improves your knowledge and skills, sharpens your mind, helps you to decompress and … [Read more...]
What Bad Habits Are Hurting Your Career?
Habits are a powerful part of our life. Without habits, we likely couldn’t cope with the complexity of our lives, yet, not all of our habits serve us well. As you grow as a leader, it is ideal that you think about your habits, so that you can replace bad habits with ones that will help you both professionally and personally. This exercise can help you to understand which … [Read more...]
Learn From All Your Experiences, Even the Truly Rotten Ones
The Vash Young quote “Any experience can be transformed into something of value" should hold special meaning for new leaders. After all, you will definitely experience your ups and downs as you manage the challenges of being a leader, and it can be easy to lose sight of the value of your experiences, especially when times are difficult or painful. As a leader, … [Read more...]
8 Uncommon Approaches to Better Presentations
When you accepted your leadership role, did you ever imagine that you'd be giving so many presentations to so many different people? If you have public speaking anxiety, the task can feel daunting, or even downright nightmarish. The fear of bombing in front of upper management or embarrassing yourself in front of your new team can be debilitating. The good news is that with … [Read more...]
What Leaders Can Learn From Watching the Super Bowl
If you are like a lot of people, you will be watching the Super Bowl this weekend. Whether at a party, or home alone, whether you are a true fan of the game or of the Broncos or Panthers, or are just watching for the commercials, the Super Bowl is more than a chance to relax, root, eat or spend time with friends. The Big Game offers you a leadership learning … [Read more...]
9 Bad Habits to Avoid at Work in 2016
On this blog, we often talk about what you can do to improve employees' negative behaviors. However, today, we're going to make you the focus. Even the best leaders possess work habits that irritate their employees and coworkers, while making them less effective at both their jobs and their ability to lead others. What bad habits are holding you back? "Achieving success … [Read more...]
[Infographic]: A Star Wars Guide to Achieving Your Goals
As 2015 came to an end, the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was definitely the event of the season. The mega block buster has exceeded $851 million already in sales, and that number certainly will climb. Given the success of the movie, and since January is the time of year when we all set goals, it's only fitting to apply a bit of the sage advice from the Star Wars … [Read more...]
4 Reasons You Should Stop Setting Goals
We are more than halfway through the year. That means a large percentage of you who set goals for this year have either fallen behind, given up on them, or got distracted and forgot about them. And if you didn't set any goals this year, you're likely no further on your way toward achieving anything either. Today, I'd like to offer a different perspective on goal setting: … [Read more...]
Finding Your Bigness Balance: 7 Ways to Properly Set the Size of Your Goals
This is the time of year when we're all thinking about setting goals and making resolutions. The good news is that there are hundreds of books, websites and other resources that teach systems for setting goals. The better news is that most, if not all of them work, if you do the work needed to make them work. The bad news, however, is that all those resources don't tackle … [Read more...]
12 (Leadership) Days of Christmas
It may be my least favorite Christmas song (and I’m sorry if it is now stuck in your head), but a few years ago I created a series of 12 blog posts inspired by the song. In the song, 12 gifts are given, and in the series, I provide leaders with 12 gifts as well. While these gifts help you become a better leader, the best thing about them is that you can share them with your … [Read more...]