Aren’t excuses so predictable? You almost hold back from asking “Hey, Bill, have you got your TPS report ready?” because you know you’ll hear “I would, but I’m still waiting for Hillary to get the cover page ready.” If you know you’re going to … Read More
Sometimes (especially in election years), a participant in a leadership workshop asks the question, “How does this content relate to political leaders?” I used to try to find some correlation — to point out that my definition of leadership, “meet … Read More
Early in my career, I had a conversation with a colleague in which I proudly stated: “I will get so much repeat business, and positive word of mouth, because of my total commitment to customer satisfaction.” This sounded like a … Read More
My favorite definition of leadership comes from Kouzes and Posner: “Leadership is the art of mobilizing others to want to struggle for shared aspirations.” That’s a great, dense package that generates discussion about the complexity of leadership. However, sometimes we … Read More
Leaders can get caught up in visionary strategic planning and lots of new initiatives. The result can be lots of overwhelming action plans or distractions from continuing “what works.” Sometimes, instead of an all-out SWOT, a simple “Start, Stop, Continue” … Read More
Have you ever been part of a strategic planning initiative that resulted in a long document, with a 3-year timeline, and several action plans? Many times, these action plans and initiatives involve projects that go above and beyond the day-to-day … Read More
Last week, we talked about rubrics in general as a tool to develop vision. This week, let’s take that further to talk about a way to make your passion more obvious to your team. Examine all your own projects, initiatives, … Read More
We all need a starting point for discussions about vision, direction, prioritization, and hiring. That’s precisely why leaders love rubrics. Simple rubrics are easy to implement, and help make things clear. Consider using a scale of 1 to 3, or 1 … Read More
You don’t have to look too far to find information on how to write SMART goals. But sometimes, that 5-step rubric can intimidate, or push us in the wrong direction. Another great way to write effective goals is to ensure … Read More
There are a number of ways and software methods out there to help you get visual with strategic thinking. Personally, I’m a fan of posting up colored sticky notes on the wall and/or on scratch paper. I also recommend the … Read More