Can Strengths Be Carried Too Far?
We can all think of examples of things that are good for us when done in moderation, but when done in excess can be harmful. For example, drinking water is generally good for us. But, when done in excess, even drinking water can become deadly. The same thing holds true for exercise. It is a … Continue reading
Is your company prepared to fail in 2012?
— The following is a guest post from leadership blogger Andrew Bryant, CSP PCC, founder of Self Leadership International.– A friend of mine is an Asia Pacific Managing Director for a global firm. We were chatting over lunch and I was sharing the need for a long-term approach to developing leaders. “I agree,” he said, “but my … Continue reading
7 Ways to Lead by Going First
— This is a guest post by Bud to Boss blogger, Kevin Eikenberry — To lead someone or something means, literally, to be in front, so that others can see and follow in that direction. Stated another way, if you think you are leading, but no one is following, you are just taking a walk. … Continue reading
Six Core Elements to Leading a Peak Performance Culture
—This is a guest post from Practical Leadership blogger, Jim Clemmer— Organizational culture development is a complex topic with many intertwined leadership components. Establishing a peak performance culture in what’s sometimes called a “green field” situation has different challenges than changing an established culture (sometimes called “brown field”). A participant in our culture change work … Continue reading
The 16 Days of Competencies: #2 Technical and Professional Expertise
As featured in the article “Making Yourself Indispensable” published in the October 2011 issue of Harvard Business Review. Yesterday, Harvard Business Review published an article titled, Making Yourself Indispensible, by Jack Zenger and Joe Folkman—co-authors of The Inspiring Leader and principals of the leadership development company, Zenger Folkman. After years of extensive research, we at … Continue reading
Are YOU an Inspiring Leader?
I just returned from a visit to the Pacific Northwest. Our destination was Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands. I have a sister there who lives on a lovely boat and we had a “sister’s retreat” with a third sister and niece joining us. This was a very beautiful and inspiring time and place. … Continue reading
Leadership- It’s Everybody’s Issue
In the last few months I have spent time in San Jose, Atlanta, Houston, Minneapolis, England, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York, Doha Qatar, Amsterdam Netherlands, Orlando, New Haven, Chicago and Mexico City. I have also had conversations with people from India, China, Denmark, Switzerland, Washington D.C., Singapore, South Africa, Egypt, Florida and Japan. I have … Continue reading
Stories vs. Data: Which One is More Effective?
One important job we have as leaders is to persuade others to take action. That’s not always an easy task, since those actions can often be difficult, challenging, and uncomfortable. I recall being a newly commissioned, 22-year old lieutenant in my initial Army troop assignment. It was my job to lead soldiers who, in some … Continue reading
The Yin and Yang of Strengths and Fatal Flaws
When Jack Zenger and I discovered that what made leaders great was the presence of strengths and not the absence of weaknesses, it fundamentally shifted our view about how leaders can improve. Our efforts to make leaders better had been primarily focused on fixing weaknesses. As we teach people about this research on building strengths, … Continue reading
Sense and Nonsense in Leadership Development
There is a great deal of nonsense that has been written about leadership. It includes meaningless statements such as, “managers do things right, leaders do the right things,” or, “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way,” and goes downhill from there. The torrent of clichés and non-actionable … Continue reading
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