The Art of Adapting: Staying Fresh in Your Leadership

In leadership, there’s nothing quite like proven, reliable experience. But if you’re not careful, all that experience can slide into nothing more than tired staleness. Effective leaders keep their leadership fresh and positive by developing a way of looking at the world that’s renewing, and hopeful. It’s a counter-intuitive, almost contradictory perspective that prevents reliable…

Demanding Leadership: How to Inspire Respect and Get Results Without Being a Jerk

You can be a results-oriented, demanding leader without being a jerk.  All too often, being a demanding leader is confused with simply being a jerk. But if you want to see your leadership impact grow, you need to know how to be results-oriented and demanding, without the “jerk factor”. Somewhere along the line, what it…

The Fatal Flaws of Outdated Team Decision-Making Methods

Teams don’t make decisions. Individuals make decisions. Every decision must have someone’s name written next to it.  The idea that there is such thing as a “team decision” is one of the biggest myths in leadership. And correcting that myth could represent a significant leadership breakthrough. Someone must own the outcome. Someone must pace around thinking…

5 Clear Indicators That You’ve Taken Your Eye Off The Leadership Ball

In leadership, one of your most important roles is to ensure that you, and your team, are keeping everyone’s eye on the ball at all times. That means providing clarity of focus and helping each person know which priorities require attention. Many years ago this hit me with full force during a particularly hectic season.…

How To Maintain Your Integrity, Even When The Cookies Look Irresistible

To protect your integrity as a leader, don’t focus only on the big, obvious temptations. Watch out for the subtle deceptions. Think of it this way. Have you ever made a personal commitment to lose weight, or to simply eat healthier, only to come across a steaming, fresh-out-of-the-oven plate of chocolate chip cookies? You knew…