Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

To help you bring out the best in your team, you need to get close and understand their skills, abilities, and motivations. So, the authors of the book,  Your First Leadership Job , recommend you hold  getting-to-know-you conversations  with each of your direct reports. Ask these  open-ended questions . Let each team member know the purpose of the meeting in advance. And, don't cheat by adding in work-specific questions. What do you enjoy doing most as part of your work? Why? What do you  miss most about the jobs you've had in the past? Why? What things about your current job do you enjoy the least? Why? How do you cope with or relieve stress? To help you do your job, what could I change about: Your work environment? The content of your work? How you get your work done? What form of recognition do you prefer or not prefer? Thank you to the book's publisher for sending me a copy of the book.

If you have an employee who needs to improve his/her performance don't delay the tough conversation with them. If you don't address the issue right now, the employee has little chance to improve, and you'll only get more frustrated. Most employees want to do a good job. Sometimes they  just  don't know they aren't performing up to the required standards. Waiting until the employee's annual performance appraisal to have the tough conversation is unhealthy for you and the employee. So, address the issue now. Sit down with your employee in a private setting. Look them in the eye. First, tell them what they do well. Thank them for that good work. Then, tell them where they need to improve. Be clear. Be precise. Ask them if they understand and ask them if they need any help from you on how to do a better job. Explain to them that you're taking the time to have the tough conversation means you care about them. You want them to do better. You believe they can do be...

Here are some of my favorites quotes from   John C. Maxwell 's book,  The 5 Levels of Leadership  that I believe should become a   must-read book   by any workplace/organizational leader: Good leadership isn't about advancing yourself. It's about advancing your team. Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others. Leadership is action, not position. When people feel liked, cared for, included, valued, and trusted, they begin to work together with their leader and each other. If you have integrity with people, you develop trust. The more trust you develop, the stronger the relationship becomes. In times of difficulty, relationships are a shelter.  In times of opportunity, they are a launching pad. Good leaders must embrace both care and candor. People buy into the leader, then the vision. Bringing out the best in a person is often a catalyst for bringing out the best in the team. Progress comes only from taki...

Each year, I select my pick for the best new leadership book released that year. As published earlier on my blog, my pick for 2023, was  When Everyone Leads .   Some years, among the many books about leadership that I read, there is another book that is so good, it becomes my runner up for the best new leadership book of the year. That runner-up book for 2023 was,  The Communication Code , by  Jeremie Kubicek  and  Steven Cockram .   Today, let's take a look back at that book: “Effective communication is the lifeblood of every healthy relationship,” explain Kubicek and Cockram, whether that relationship is at work or at home. And effective communication is essential for successful leadership.   Fortunately, the authors' book provides a proven series of easy-to-implement skills, techniques and powerful strategies via what they call the  Communication Code  that anyone can use to make their communication, relationships deeper and more prod...

What you don't see about yourself can hold you back as a leader. That's typical for many leaders. What we don't see is what we  can't  see: we have  blindspots . Your blindspots prevent you from achieving your greatest success.  “It turns out that we're often not great judges of ourselves, even when we think we are. Sometimes we're simply unaware of a behavior or trait that's causing problems,” explains Martin Dubin , author of the new book, Blindspotting: How To See What’s Holding You Back As A Leader . “Bottom line: until we uncover these blindspots, we can't move forward. The good news is that you can learn to do your own  blindspotting .”   “Most of us understand the idea of blindspots in a general sense—areas we can’t see, to take the term most literally, or places we have gaps that we may not even realize, to be a little more abstract,” says Dubin.  “But in the context of this book, I’m defining blindspots quite specifically: They are the par...

Mastering AI  by  Jeremy Kahn  is absolutely a must-read for every business leader who wants to better understand the history and evolution of AI (Artificial Intelligence), and more important, the promise and perils of AI for businesses and society. Even if you think you have a basic understanding of AI, this book is an essential resource for you.   That is because Kahn delivers not only a timely, thorough and thought-provoking examination of AI’s benefits to humanity as well as its potentially chilling dangers, but also and vitally, a declaration for how we should proceed as AI evolves. Reading  Mastering AI  reminded me of the popular  The Popcorn Report  by Faith Popcorn – where in 1992 she identified and forecasted trends to chart the future's impact on our businesses, our lives, and our world.  Similarly,  Fortune  magazine journalist, Kahn, draws on his expertise and extensive contacts among the companies and scientists at the...