Leadership Series: Change Management
Leadership Series: Change Management John F. Kennedy once taught an important principle: “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain the miss the future.” Inviting change, handling change and perhaps most importantly leading change are essential capabilities of influential leaders. So today, we’ll discuss five principles of what business strategists and behavioral economists have called, “Change Management.” See more at http://www.strategy-business.com/article/rr00006?gko=643d0 Address the “human side” systematically When change...
Read MoreLeadership Series: Storytelling
Leadership Series: Storytelling A key role of any leader is to inspire. A very effective way to inspire is through storytelling. Think of some of the most compelling accounts from history and how they’ve shaped us. The amazing tale of the forefathers and how they claimed the independence of the United States as the pilgrims immigrated across the ocean and began a new life. The great leadership of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and others and their incredible histories. All of these stories engender in US citizens a spirit of values, self-reliance and independence. Now think of your...
Read MoreLeadership Series: Strategy
Leadership Series: Strategy Today we’re going to discuss a leadership topic of great importance—strategy. We’ll talk about the “What” and“Why” of strategy and how to apply it to your life and business. But first, a quote from legendary Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi: “Perception is strong and sight weak. In strategy it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to take a distanced view of close things.” What is strategy? Michael D. Watkins, Chairman of Genesis Advisers, in his HBR article, Demystifying Strategy: The What, Who, How, and Why, defines...
Read MoreLeadership Series: Sharpen the Saw
Leadership Series: Sharpen the Saw As we discuss the topic of leadership it might be easy to become overwhelmed with a list of skills, capabilities and practices of effective leaders; enough to make us put our feet to the floor more hours each day and more days each week. But today we’ll discuss another essential and even invaluable habit of great leaders. This is what the famous Dr. Stephen R. Covey calls “sharpening the saw.” Abraham Lincoln, an experienced axman, taught a powerful life lesson that illustrates well this idea when he said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I...
Read MoreLeadership Series: Decision Making
Leadership Series: Decision Making It’s often said that being a decision maker is a necessary attribute to be a leader. But this is only, at best, a half-truth. Why? Well, on the one hand, it’s very important for a leader to be able to move an issue forward by making a sound decision but on the other, being the one that has to make the decision could be your organization’s biggest bottleneck. If you’re making all the decisions, you’re either too involved (i.e. you don’t trust your people) or you’re just plain egotistical (i.e. you don’t think your people are smart enough to make...
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