As a leader, one of the most under-rated instruments in your toolbox is a simple tuning fork. You might not carry the actual instrument with you, but I’ve learned that watching for “tuning fork moments” can be a crucial leadership tool. I saw this play out in conversation with a teammate who didn’t seem to…
How To Build Healthy Culture In A Heated Debate
As a leader, your role in building a healthy culture is never more crucial than when entering heated waters. Let’s face it; when there are no contentious issues on the table, it’s relatively easy to forge an atmosphere of collegiality and even warmth. But when the stakes are high, when issues of vital importance are…
4 Compelling Reasons To Avoid the Pitfall of Exaggeration
As a leader you must project optimism. But when you cross the line into exaggeration or hyperbole, your leadership is facing significant risks. A leader in my orbit once described a very average meeting we had been in as “Quite possibly our best meeting ever!” The statement was so over-the-top, and so removed from any…
How To Be Certain Your Leadership Is Really Demonstrating Kindness
“The kindest form of leadership is the truth.” – Jack Welch The problem many leaders have with the concept of kindness is that they think it means to avoid speaking truth, in order to spare someone’s feelings. In fact, speaking the truth is the very essence of kindness. This is not to say that leaders have…
How To Spot Speech Patterns That Reveal Insecurity
Just as certain regional accents can reveal where a person is from, there are leadership ways of speaking that can reveal the level of security you possess as a leader. The speaking patterns in leadership are not about accents. They’re about a manner of speaking that just as certainly can pinpoint whether the leader has…
