A Good Leader is a Good Follower

Posted on October 1, 2019 by

mindless followerEven as leaders, we all have bosses.  Perhaps, it is a Vice-President.  Perhaps, it is the CEO.  Perhaps, it is the Board of Directors.

To move our companies forward, we need to be good (but not mindless) followers to our good bosses.

Support the Boss

The success of any organization requires that everyone is rowing in the same direction.  So, our job as followers is to ensure that we devote ourselves to following and supporting the direction in which our boss is taking us.  This means supporting their key initiatives and doing what is required to further the goals and objectives of our boss.

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Four Ways To Do Training Right

Posted on September 3, 2019 by

Off-The-Job-Training-Cartoon1In corporate America, approximately $100 billion is spent each year on training.  Yet, many studies show that training is only 10% – 15% effective.  As Harvard Business School Professor Michael Beer writes, this is…

the great training robbery

Yet, training is a vital part of developing a winning team.  So, how can we do training right?

 

Keep It Simple… Keep It Small… Keep It Focused

Training is only useful when it can be put into action and change our thoughts and behaviors.  The best way to do this is to change one habit at a time.  As such, our training goals need to be modest and focused on one (or at absolutely most, three) specific concepts at a time.    In addition, the trainer needs to be explicit about how the training relates to the trainee’s job and how the training can be put into action.

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Communicate in One Page

Posted on August 6, 2019 by

One Page MemoIdea Summary

To run our businesses more effectively, most documents and reports in our businesses (including summaries, plans, reviews, and analysis) should be kept to one page.

 

Perspective

Businesses are awash in information, specifically reports, analysis, weekly updates or reviews, which are rarely read and, even more seldom, acted upon.  As an example, the one page Executive Summary is a relic of the past, now replaced by Executive Summaries of 3 – 5 pages or even longer.  Such long reports or analyses are time-consuming to write and usually too complex to translate into actionable steps to move our companies forward

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5 Key Interpersonal Skills for Leaders

Posted on July 2, 2019 by

“Abraham Lincoln said that people think that the real test of a person’s character is how they deal with adversity. A much better measure of a person’s character is to give them power. I’ve been more often disappointed with how people’s character is revealed when they’ve been given power.”  Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria

As leaders, we have power. We have the power to direct and lead others; we have the greater power in all of our interpersonal relations. This power requires us to be even more attentive in our interpersonal relations to ensure that we do not abuse this power, but instead that we are as effective as possible in developing open, positive, two-way communication with our teams.

So, what can we do to develop strong interpersonal relations with the people who work for us?

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Don’t Believe the Hype

Posted on June 4, 2019 by

Hype“The world is changing faster than ever before.”

“We need to adapt to the change or we will get run over by it.”

“The paradigm has shifted and the world will never be the same.”

“Robotics and AI (Artificial Intelligence) will disrupt every industry and company on the planet.”

The hype from the media about the change happening in the world is nearly overwhelming.  As such, many of us live in fear that we and our businesses are not changing fast enough.

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Experiment… A Little

Posted on May 7, 2019 by

Leadership ExperimentTo move our companies forward, we need to experiment.  We need to try out new products, new sales/ marketing strategies, new processes, and new leadership styles.  We cannot be certain if all of these will work.  But, to not experiment means that our companies stagnate.

 It is common sense to take a method and try it: if it fails, admit it frankly and try another.  But, above all, try something.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt

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Decisiveness

Posted on April 2, 2019 by

decisiveness“In a minute, there is time for decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.”

This line from the 1915 T.S. Elliot poem, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, is a lovely bit of poetry.  It is also a prescription for how not to run a business.

To be successful leaders running successful businesses, we need to be decisive.  We need to make a decision, decide on a course of action, and then work relentlessly to execute on the decision.

“The one word that makes a good manager — decisiveness.”  Lee Iacocca

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