Blog

Almost every day I hear a leader describe their unhappiness about a team member’s performance or behaviour. But when I ask the leader how candid they’ve been with their team member about it, the leader so often says, “Well, I haven’t actually had a chance to talk with them about it yet.” That’s When MyRead more

Have you ever worked for a leader who put most of their energy into what they do—things like strategic planning, motivating the team to produce results, following up on commitments, and so on…… ……rather than who they are as a leader—things like always being authentic and personally disciplined and oozing emotional intelligence?   “Statistically Speaking,Read more

There’s so much talk about the importance of being “authentic”—the value of telling the truth about your thoughts and feelings. Why is authenticity such a big deal? Reflect on leaders you’ve been exposed to—who was great, who was not as great? I’ll bet the great leaders you’ve known were authentic and the not-as-great weren’t asRead more

Here’s what Seth Godin said: “We spend a lot of time talking about celebrities and how attractive they are. Paul Newman’s blue eyes, how tall is Jake Gyllenhaal, how fast is Usain Bolt. Most of the time, though, our success is based on something we have far more control over: Our emotional attractiveness. People who areRead more

It doesn’t matter what you call it….. honesty—authenticity—candour—integrity—frankness—truthfulness—openness—sincerity—genuineness It’s a prerequisite if you’re to be trusted by people.   Honesty and Influence Here’s the thing… It’s essential that other people trust you if you plan to be influential. Influencing is damn hard if they don’t. They’ll spend their time looking at you through squinty eyes,Read more

I’m curious, how well do the leaders around you display the three tell-tale signs below? More importantly, how often would your team members, your peers and your boss see you displaying them? 1.    Great Leaders “Rock The Boat” They always: —Pass the “lean forward” test. They care about what’s going on. And so noticeRead more

Let’s face it—the better you are as a leader, the more productive your team is. And that increased productivity directly impacts the bottom line. Some leadership practices and behaviours are downright demotivating for their team members. In fact, Gallop’s research tells us that a leader has a whopping 70% impact on how motivated their team membersRead more

You’ve got responsibility for producing impressive results—yet zero positional power and minimal authority. That’s the struggle of dotted line leadership, isn’t it? Dotted line reporting has become common these days—but it often gets a bad rap because of its bureaucratic twist. Nonetheless, when you’re managing across the line, you don’t need a pity party. YouRead more

It Was Because Of The Dog… That irritating barking dog enabled an unforgettable demonstration of heart-warming consideration and kindness. It was the talk of the street. A client described how the neighbour’s dog barked, unrelentingly, for hours every day. Neighbours from afar spoke over their fences and stood in the street complaining about the intrusion. And then things turned around—emotionalRead more

What Makes First–Rate Leaders, First–Rate? We’ll quickly answer this question—and then we’ll move to the really important bit… What can you immediately do to close the gap between where you sit now and where a first–rate leader sits?   What The Research Is Telling Us Talentsmart’s recent research backed up more than two decades of studiesRead more

To be frank, I’m amazed at how many people step around difficulties. Even some otherwise impressive leaders are doing it.Don’t get me wrong. I’m not encouraging you to be too challenging or to take a win/lose approach. My problem is that way too many leaders are putting their head in the sand and pretending theRead more