Category Archives: Leadership

Skin in the Game

In a previous job, I had around 100 salespeople who reported either directly or indirectly to me.  As a group, they were strong in sales.  But they lagged in paperwork, especially sales reporting and expense reports, and in doing any … Continue reading

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The Challenge of Being Ethical

“The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.” Groucho Marx “There’s one way to find out if a man is honest – ask him. If he says, ‘Yes’, you know … Continue reading

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14 Basics to Master

Leadership training focuses intently on high level leadership skills – strategic planning, negotiation, managing stakeholders, projecting charisma, developing and communicating a vision.  These are certainly vital skills.  But, to be an effective leader first requires that we master basic productivity … Continue reading

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Field Centric

As leaders, we can get wrapped up in so many different activities and meetings – meeting with the finance, human resources or marketing department; talking to investors, banks and insurance companies; strategic planning; looking at acquisition candidates or joint venture … Continue reading

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Make Molehills

“Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill.” Unfortunately, too many leaders ignore this wise advice.  Instead, every minor issue becomes a major problem that needs to be addressed and resolved now. Why? Leaders make mountains out of molehills for … Continue reading

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The Four Stupidities of the Smart Leader

To be a good leader, we have to be intelligent: intellectually, socially and emotionally intelligent.  In a previous blog post, I even gave some advice on 8 Ways to Be As Smart As We Can Be.  Being smart, however, does … Continue reading

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Patience

The regular readers of my blog are aware of my focus on Decisiveness and Getting Things Done. But, as in all things in leadership, balance is required.  Good leaders balance this decisiveness with a healthy dose of patience.  There are … Continue reading

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Don’t Get Angry

The Ancients knew a thing or two about anger: “Whom the Gods want to destroy, they first make angry.” Ancient Greek Proverb “Great anger is more destructive than the sword.” Indian Proverb “The angry man will defeat himself in battle … Continue reading

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A Good Leader is a Good Storyteller

If only I could never open my mouth…until the abstract idea had reached its highest point – and had become a story! Zorba the Greek Since joining my current company, I have been emphasizing several concepts, such as “trust but … Continue reading

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Apology Accepted

As a leader, we will make mistakes or behave (in a moment of anger or frustration) inappropriately.  The usual response is to blame someone else, ignore the mistake or minimize the bad behavior, and then just move on.  “I have … Continue reading

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Humor – A Vital Leadership Skill

“A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done.”  Dwight D. Eisenhower (34th President of the United States) Having humor in the workplace is crucial to leadership success and … Continue reading

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Top Three Things to Do Today to Be a Better Leader

To build a better business, we need to be better leaders.  This does not mean we need to rush out and get more training or education or bring in a consultant (absolutely not!!).  Instead, we need to focus on the … Continue reading

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A Happy Company

The American Psychologist and Author, Martin Seligman, is a strong promoter of positive psychology and well-being.  His five-part recommendation for increased happiness and life satisfaction consists of: Positive Emotion Engagement Relationships Meaning Achievement This prescription (remembered with the acronym ‘PERMA’) … Continue reading

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Best Version of Ourselves

The Australian Motivational Speaker and Catholic Author, Matthew Kelly, focus his message on people becoming the best version of themselves.  This message should resonate with all of us as leaders. As leaders, we have strengths, and we have weaknesses.  We … Continue reading

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What To Think About

Studies from social psychologists have concluded that the media (contrary to common opinion) is not effective at changing how we think.  Instead, it is quite effective in determining what we think about. As leaders, it can be helpful to focus … Continue reading

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Careful: A User’s Guide to Our Injury-Prone Minds

Careful: A User’s Guide to Our Injury-Prone Minds, written by Steve Casner, is an excellent discussion of safety in our lives, both at home and at work.  It is a straightforward read, and I highly recommend it.  Below I share … Continue reading

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Three Cheers for Foresight

To be successful, leaders need to develop and hone their business foresight.  Used effectively, foresight focuses our attention on the time and space between the immediate, day to day tactical execution and the long-term strategic vision and planning. Foresight in … Continue reading

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The Curse of Knowledge

As leaders we are bedeviled by the Curse of Knowledge: The Curse of Knowledge is the difficulty we have in imagining that another person does not know what we know. The Curse of Knowledge rears its ugly head in three … Continue reading

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Four Ways to Overcome Confirmation Bias

The biggest decision-making bias for all of us is the confirmation bias. Wikipedia explains it well: Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one’s prior beliefs or … Continue reading

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The Necessity of a Good Cadence

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, cadence is defined as “the beat, time, or measure of rhythmical motion or action.” In the business context, cadence is used to describe regularly scheduled activities, specifically regularly scheduled meetings, follow-ups, visits or other actions. … Continue reading

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