Tip For How To Think Outside The Box

Here is a tip for how to think outside the box. Thanks to Michael Kallet, author of, Think Smarter: Critical Thinking to Improve Problem-Solving and Decision-Making Skills.

To think outside the box, you have to acknowledge that the box is bound by your premise. You therefore have to push the box's sides and premise components to think outside of that. Use what if and what other questions to push on those boundaries and discover new ideas.

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Seven Ways To Be A Collaborative Leader

Edward M. Marshall 's book, Transforming The Way We Work -- The Power Of The Collaborative Workplace , remains relevant today, more than a decade after Marshall wrote it. Particularly useful is the book's section that teaches readers how to be a collaborative leader. Marshall says that there are seven different, important roles and responsibilities of collaborative leaders when leading teams , and those leaders should select the appropriate style to meet the team's needs. The seven roles are : The leader as sponsor -- You provide strategic direction, boundaries and coaching for the team. You also monitor progress and ensure integrity in the team's operating processes. The leader as facilitator -- You ensure that meetings, team dynamics, and interpersonal relationships function effectively. You also ensure internal coordination of activities among team members. The leader as coach -- You provide support and guidance and you serve as a sounding board. The lea...

How To Uncover Your Blindspots To Become A Better Leader

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Discover How Ken Blanchard Changed The Way The World Leads

I would be hard pressed to find a leader, someone who studies leadership, or an aspiring leader who during the past 43 years hasn’t read the iconic and business classic The One Minute Manager (1982) or the updated new addition, The New One Minute Manager (2015). For decades, these two books, both co-authored by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson , have helped millions achieve more successful professional and personal lives. Now, in Chapter 9 of the new biography of Ken Blanchard, you’ll discover the story behind the idea and ultimate launch of the original The One Minute Manager . Chapter 9 is in the insightful and intimate biography, Catch People Doing Things Right , authored by Martha C. Lawrence . In it and through extensive access to personal papers, letters, and interviews spanning six decades, she reveals how Blanchard became a leadership guru and bestselling author of more than 70 books. Lawrence shares insights and intimate details about Blanchar...

12 Data-Driven Steps To Finding A Job You Love

In 2024, I named Be The Unicorn: Data-driven Habits That Separate The Best Leaders From The Rest , by William Vanderbloemen , as the best new leadership book of that year. The book is timely, incredibly practical, and immediately usable for any leader wherever they are on their leadership journey. Through extensive research of more than 30,000 top leaders and proprietary data, Vanderbloemen identified in the book the twelve habits that the best of the best leaders have in common. These superstar leaders are the unicorns – highly desirable but that are difficult to find or obtain. And recently, Vanderbloemen followed up that gem of a book with another terrific book called, Work How You Are Wired: 12 Data-Driven Steps To Finding A Job You Love . It’s a great companion book to Be The Unicorn . Those 12 steps align with these 12 personality traits/interpersonal habits: Fast Authentic Agile Solver Anticipator Prepar...

How To Be More Playful To Build Resilience, Navigate Challenges And Find More Joy

“Research reveals that playful adults excel at problem-solving and stress management and consistently report higher life satisfaction,” explains Piera Gelardi , author of the new book, The Playful Way . The Playful Way is a mindset that transforms how you experience everything from airport security lines to career transitions to navigating grief. More specifically, Gelardi says playfulness is: Finding humor and lightness even in tense moments. Staying open to possibilities rather than fixating on one “right” way. Experimenting rather than seeking perfection. Bringing an ethos of curious exploration to difficulties. Finding wisdom in the body when the mind’s tied up in knots. Tuning your attention to notice details and find wonder. Reimagining dull tasks through reframes and games. Improvising when things go sideways. Gelardi guides readers in uncovering the mental barriers and inner critics that restrict playfulness, offering practical techniqu...

How To Unleash The Most Powerful Force In Business

In Marcus Buckingham ’s latest book, Design Love In: How To Unleash The Most Powerful Force In Business , he details the one hidden skill at the heart of all the best leaders today—and what you can do in your own working life to cultivate it. The skill is leading lovingly —what Buckingham calls Design Love In (DLI). Being a leader, whom people say they love working for and for whom they’d walk through walls. A leader who gets the absolute best out of their employees and who builds the kind of team employees desperately want to be on. “Love fuels our resilience, sparks our creativity, and bonds us together as collaborators,” shares Buckingham. “Love means a passionate commitment to something or someone. Love means deep loyalty. Love is advocacy. And, of course, love can also be hard-edged, hence ‘tough love.’” Buckingham recommends leaders create experiences that: Make employees feel bigger. Allow employees to feel safe enough to open up. Help employees flourish. Further, Buckingh...

How To Reclaim Your Time And Be Time Smart

“Four out of five adults report feeling that they have too much to do and not enough time to do it,” reports Ashley Whillans , author of the book, Time Smart: How to Reclaim Your Time and Live a Happier Life . “These time-poor people experience less joy each day. They laugh less. They are less healthy and less productive.” And, in one study, time stress produced a stronger negative effect on happiness than unemployment. Drawing on the latest science, Whillans teaches us how to escape the time traps that make us feel this way and keep us from living our best lives. She explains that the six most common time traps are: Constant connection to technology. Obsession with work and making money. Limited value placed on time. Busyness as a status symbol. Aversion to idleness. The Yes…and then regret it effect. Her playbook shows you how to : take back the time you lose to mindless tasks and unfulfilling chores. improve your "time affluence.” f...

Effective Listening: Do's And Don'ts

Here are some great tips from Michelle Tillis Lederman's book, The 11 Laws of Likability . They are all about: what to do and what not to do to be a leader who's an effective listener : Do : Maintain eye contact Limit your talking Focus on the speaker Ask questions Manage your emotions Listen with your eyes and ears Listen for ideas and opportunities Remain open to the conversation Confirm understanding, paraphrase Give nonverbal messages that you are listening (nod, smile) Ignore distractions Don't : Interrupt Show signs of impatience Judge or argue mentally Multitask during a conversation Project your ideas Think about what to say next Have expectations or preconceived ideas Become defensive or assume you are being attacked Use condescending, aggressive, or closed body language Listen with biases or closed to new ideas Jump to conclusions or finish someone's sentences

Let's Meet At The Intersection Of Marketing, Leadership And Blogging! A Q&A With Debbie Laskey

Credit: iStock Photo For the past 16 years, I have relied on Debbie Laskey's Blog for expert leadership guidance and always interesting insights into marketing best practices and recaps of marketing trends. Fortunately, through the years, Debbie has also shared her expertise through a variety of postings on my blog, and I'm honored again today to feature Debbie with the following Q&A's: QUESTION: You've featured many leadership experts on your blog through the years. What is a common theme from all the Q&A's? DEBBIE LASKEY : Back in 2011, I met Mark Herbert, a leadership expert and author based in Oregon, as a result of our interactions on Twitter/X. I interviewed him several times, and he provided a quote that I will always remember and share often: "Leadership doesn't require you to be the smartest person in the room. It requires you to block and tackle for others." That quote has appeared on my blog countless times over the years because...

The Algorithm: The Five-Step Framework That Drives Business Success

From a former President of Tesla, Jon McNeill , comes The Algorithm —the first book written by any of Elon Musk’s direct reports—a transformative guide for leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators who want to emulate the paradigm-shattering approach used to launch Tesla and SpaceX to success. And that transformed Lululemon and General Motors. McNeill had already founded and sold six startups when Sheryl Sandberg introduced him to Elon Musk, who was looking for help at Tesla. McNeill was steeped in the lean principles that had made Toyota a global powerhouse—principles focused on achieving efficiency and optimization by incrementally improving existing systems and processes. What he learned at Tesla was an approach that required radical rethinking to explode the status quo, attack complexity, and set seemingly unrealistic goals. Elon Musk at Tesla called this five-step framework “The Algorithm.” 1. Question every requirement – “Question everything—from produ...

Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

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