Every leader leads two teams; there’s the team you inherited, and there’s the team you built. This key truth has been one of the most important lessons I’ve ever learned with respect to team leadership. The team you inherited were already in place before you showed up. They had been assembled by your predecessor, and…
Lessons from Scrooge: Leadership and Compassion
Leaders have the power to give the gift of happiness, or of unhappiness, to those they lead. And the Christmas season is an ideal time to assess how effectively you have been distributing this precious commodity. This is not to say that the primary role of the leader is merely to ensure the personal well-being…
10 Unexpected Leadership Qualities I Need On My Team
The starting place for building an effective “dream team” is in having a crystal clear picture of the qualities you want in the people. If you were to make a list of the attributes you would want on the members of your leadership team you would likely include such characteristics as: Go-getter. Someone who ‘makes…
Are You Missing These Key Traits of Leadership Intelligence?
When you are leading in a challenging season, you must up your game in just about every dimension of effective leadership. But no skill could be more important than that of leadership intelligence. When your team is feeling unsettled, or even fearful, there’s little point in casting vision, devising strategies or even setting goals; at…
Protect Your Team: Spotting and Neutralizing the Top 6 Culture-Killers
What you allow, you encourage. In leadership, this nugget of truth is especially true when it comes to the building of a healthy culture. When you allow fun, candor, initiative and diligence, those qualities will be encouraged to flourish. Similarly, when you allow Culture Killers like grumbling, selfishness and laziness, so too are you encouraging…
