Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

You can't lead if your employees, team or followers don't trust you. Building trust takes  energy, effort and constant attention  to how you act. To help build trust, follow these 16 tips , recommended by author  Susan H. Shearouse : Be honest Keep commitments and keep your word Avoid surprises Be consistent with your mood Be your best Demonstrate respect Listen Communicate Speak with a positive intent Admit mistakes Be willing to hear feedback Maintain confidences Get to know others Practice empathy Seek input from others Say "thank you"

Within the workplace there are Contributors and Impact Players – each representing a distinct way of working – the first leads to a job well done while the other carves a path to true leadership and generates immense value.  More specifically,  Liz Wiseman , author of the new book,  Impact Players , explains that:  While others do their job, Impact Players figure out the real job to be done. While others wait for direction, Impact Players step up and lead. While others escalate problems, Impact Players move things across the finish line. While others attempt to minimize change, Impact Players are learning and adapting to change. While others add to the load, Impact Players make heavy demands feel lighter.  “ Impact Players  is written for aspiring leaders, striving professionals who want to be more successful at work, increase their influence, and multiply their impact,” explains Wiseman. “It is also a book for today’s leaders, those managers who want to cultivate more of this mindset

Here is an important tip for leaders from Bill Berman and George Bradt , authors of the book, Influence and Impact .  Tip :  Just because you are better at some things than your team members are doesn’t mean you should do those things. Your technical expertise is important. However, that is not what you are paid for, and when you dive into a problem that calls for your technical expertise you lose hours of the most precious commodity of all—time.  And, your team members learn nothing. Because you did the work yourself, your organization is no better equipped to do the work next time. You unintentionally teach your team members to do sloppy jobs, since they know you will overrule or fix their work. They stop bringing their A game.

Jenn Lim   is the CEO Of Delivering Happiness, a company she and Tony Hsieh (the late CEO of Zappos.com) cofounded to create happier company cultures for a more profitable and sustainable approach to business.  Lim ’s mission is to teach businesses how to create workplaces—led with happiness and humanity—that generate more profit, sustain all people at every level of the organizations, and share how we can make an impact by being true to our authentic selves.  It’s this mission that drove Lim to author her new book,  Beyond Happiness, How Authentic Leaders Prioritize Purpose And People For Growth And Impact .  Describing her book, Lim says, “No matter what role you have at your organization, this life-changing guide will enable you to get to the core of who you are, live with purpose through the work you do every day, and spread that power to others in your business and beyond.”   Jenn Lim   Today, Lim shares these additional insights with us:  Question: What is "Beyond Happiness&

I am a big fan of the series of Harvard Business Review (HBR)’s Handbooks , including the one for leaders and the one for family businesses.  Newest in the series is the HBR Project Management Handbook .  Author Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez explains that to fully harness project management and to live into the idea that projects can inspire positive change – it is time for companies and leaders to break out of outdated structures and lean into a fresh, modern approach to project management. Hence, his new book.  Nieto-Rodriguez defines projects as :  Limited in time; they have a start and an end. They require an investment in the form of capital resources (money, funds). They required an investment in human resources (effort, time). Frequently, they bring together people who have diverse expertise and background and who have never worked together before.  Further, he explains that projects differ from operations , which are day-to-day activities, and which generally follow

  Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez, author of the new book, Harvard Business Review Project Management Handbook , explains that high-performing teams have these eight attributes :  The team has time to meet and get to know each other.  All team members participate to establish team goals.  Each team member can describe the team’s primary purpose and expected goals.  Team members have responsibilities in their area of expertise and are aware of how they can actively contribute to achieving the team’s goals.  The team has a problem-solving culture and is encouraged to take risks.  The team is capable of making decisions that are backed by the entire team in a timely manner.  Team members feel free to voice conflicting points of view.  Both the team and the individuals receive feedback regularly, and there is a mindset of continuous improvement.

No One Succeeds Alone  is the inspiring story of Compass Founder & CEO  Robert Reffkin , whose mother, mentors, and search for belonging taught him valuable lessons that anyone with a dream can put into action today to improve their own quality of life.   Each chapter in the book shares a part of Reffkin’s life story and  eight practical lessons , such as:   Love your customers more than your ideas. Find someone to give you the critical feedback others won’t. Collaborate without ego. If you help people, they will want to help you.   Prior to becoming CEO of Compass, a real estate company and technology platform, Reffkin completed a B.A. and M.B.A. from Columbia University and worked at McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, and as a White House Fellow.   He has also run 50 marathons in 50 states to raise $1 million dollars for charities — including for America Needs You, the non-profit he founded to serve young people living below the poverty line who are the first in their families to go to col

Here are the  seven smart things  you need to do to  succeed in the future , according to leadership expert. John Baldoni, in his book,  Lead With Purpose : Make purpose a central focus. Instill purpose in others. Make employees comfortable with ambiguity. Turn good intentions into great results. Make it safe to fail (as well as prevail). Develop the next generation. Prepare yourself.

"Questions help us break down barriers, discover secrets, solve puzzles, and imagine new ways of doing things, But few of us know  how  to question in a methodical way," explains  Frank Sesno , Emmy-award-winning journalist, and author of the book,  Ask More . Sesno's book teaches readers how the power of questions: Opens doors Uncovers Solutions Sparks Change More specifically, he reveals: The power and payoff of targeted  diagnostic  questions. How  strategic  questions can ease the hardest decisions and support triumphant outcomes. How and when to use  empathy  questions. How asking  creativity  questions help to get people to imagine, set their sights high and soar above failure. And, "when a leader fails to know where he/she is going, refuses to listen to what he/she doesn't want to hear, or relies on faulty information, bad things happen," adds Sesno. Frank Sesno Sesno also shares that some questions work best when they don't end in a question mark

Here are the 12 golden rules of effective communication from  Paul Falcone , as highlighted in his book,  2600 Phrases for Setting Effective Performance Goals . Always remember to: Recognize achievements and accomplishments often. Celebrate success. Deliver bad news quickly, constructively, and in a spirit of professional development. Praise in public, censure in private. Assume responsibility for problems when things go wrong, and provide immediate praise and recognition to others when things go right. Create a work environment based on inclusiveness, welcoming others' suggestions and points of view. Listen actively, making sure that your people feel heard and understood and have a voice in terms of offering positive suggestions in the office or on the shop floor. Share information openly (to the extent possible) so that staff members understand the  Why  behind your reasoning and can ask appropriate questions as they continue along in their own path of career development and lear

In their book,  Millennials Who Manage , authors  Chip Espinoza  and  Joel Schwarzbart , quote Donna Hicks's explanation about how  dignity is different from respect . Dignity is different from respect in that it is not based on how people perform, what they can do for us, or their likability. Dignity is a feeling of inherent value and worth. Therefore, Espinoza and Schwarzbart recommend that leaders treat those they are leading with dignity and follow Hick's  10 Essential Elements of Dignity : Acceptance of Identity  - Approach people as being neither inferior nor superior to you. Assume that others have integrity. Inclusion  - Make others feel that they belong, whatever the relationship. Safety  - Put people at ease at two levels: physically, so they feel safe from bodily harm, and psychologically, so they feel safe from being humiliated. Acknowledgment  - Give people your full attention by listening, hearing, validating, and responding to their concerns, feelings, and experi

Searching for some more ways to become an effective leader? Here are 70 things you can do: Don't micromanage Don't be a bottleneck Focus on outcomes, not minutiae Build trust with your colleagues before a crisis comes Assess your company's strengths and weaknesses at all times Conduct annual risk reviews Be courageous, quick and fair Talk more about values more than rules Reward how a performance is achieved and not only the performance Constantly challenge your team to do better Celebrate your employees' successes, not your own Err on the side of taking action Communicate clearly and often Be visible Eliminate the cause of a mistake View every problem as an opportunity to grow Summarize group consensus after each decision point during a meeting Praise when compliments are earned Be decisive Say "thank you" and sincerely mean it Send written thank you notes Listen carefully and don't multi-task while listening Teach something new to your team Show respect

Read the informative and inspirational,  The Entrepreneur’s Faces , to follow the intriguing stories of  10 real entrepreneurs from around the world  as they reveal their personal entrepreneurial journeys – overcoming pain and setbacks, all the while demonstrating tremendous vision, imagine and drive.   This is a must-read book whether you are an aspiring entrepreneur or a current entrepreneur. The 10 journeys are engaging, relatable and profiled through these personas:   The Maker : Prototypes everything, learns by doing. The Leader : Rejects traditional structures, seeks inspirational role models, tests leadership ideas. The Accidental : Hobbyist mentality, obsessive tinkerer, passionate beyond practicality. The Guardian : Turns empathy into a lens to better serve customers. Improves lives and heightens human interactions. The Conductor : Thinks big, undaunted by regulations or limitations. Platform builder. The Evangelist : Sparks imagination by telling a story, plants seeds for fut

New to your leadership position? Read the  Harvard Business Review Leader's Handbook . It's also a good refresher read for any leader wanting to hone their leadership skills. The book's six chapters cover: Building a Unifying Vision Developing a Strategy Getting Great People on Board Focusing on Results Innovating for the Future Leading Yourself Decide today to spend some time with this book's step-by-step guidance, concise explanations and in-depth case studies -- all designed to help you make an impact, inspire your organization, and get to the next level.

"Stories strengthen communications and presence for leaders," explains  Kristi Hedges , author of the book,  The Power of Presence . She recommends you  consider adding stories to your communications when you : Want to motivate others and paint a picture of what's possible. Need to show others -- whether a large audience or one person -- that you have shared commonalities. Are trying to deliver difficult news and want to show empathy. Are facing adversity in the present that relates to a situation you've experienced before. Are interviewing for a job and want to demonstrate your ability to adapt, learn, and overcome challenges. Are in a new position and would like to show others your approach and values. Want to show clients or colleagues that you've been in their shoes. Want to encourage another person to tackle something difficult. Thank you to the book's publisher for sending me a copy of the book.

According to  Ron Ricci  and  Carl Wiese , authors of the book,  The Collaboration Imperative , high-performing teams have the following characteristics: People have solid and deep trust in each other and in the team's purpose--they feel free to express feelings and ideas. Everybody is working toward the same goals. Team members are clear on how to work together and how to accomplish tasks. Everyone understands both team and individual performance goals and knows what is expected. Team members actively diffuse tension and friction in a relaxed and informal atmosphere. The team engages in extensive discussion, and everyone gets a chance to contribute--even the introverts. Disagreement is viewed as a good thing and conflicts are managed.  Criticism is constructive and is oriented toward problem solving and removing obstacles. The team makes decisions when there is natural agreement--in the cases where agreement is elusive, a decision is made by the team lead or executive sponsor, aft

Gorick Ng  is a career adviser at Harvard Collage and during the last four years, he’s interviewed more than five hundred interns, early career professionals, managers, and executives, across the globe. Now, he’s distilled everything that he’s learned into a step-by-step guide – his book,  The Unspoken Rules: Secrets To Starting Your Career Off Right .  “We all have what it takes to be a top performer. It begins with mastering the unspoken rules,” explains, Ng.  Some of the  20 unspoken rules  that Ng reveals and explains in his book are:  Know when to reject, embrace, or bend the rules. Think like an owner. Know your context and your audience. Work backward from the end goal.  Ng’s interviews included asking these questions: What are the most common mistakes people make at work? What would you do differently if you could redo the first years of your career? What separates top performers from mediocre ones?                During his research, Ng identified the  most universal problems

One of my favorite articles from a 2014 issue of   Inc.  magazine  featured a fascinating list of  35 questions  from business owners, entrepreneurs and management thinkers. Each offered  the one question  they would ask  to move a company forward . From the list,  my favorites are : Are we relevant? Will we be relevant five years from now? Ten? What prevents me from making the changes I know will make me a more effective leader? Are we changing as fast as the world around us? Who, on the executive team or the board, has spoken to a customer recently? And, my most favorite is : How can we become the company that would put us out of business? What question do you ask to help move your company forward?

Every business leader should read the book,  The Business of We , by  Laura Kriska . However, read it only once you’ve committed yourself to creating a welcoming and productive work environment for all.  This book couldn’t have come at a more important time because as Kriska shares, “a new approach to diversity, cultural difference, and inclusion is urgently needed – a time for business leaders to create true synergy among the diverse and often fiercely divided members of their workforce.”  With 30 years of experience bridging gags in diverse workplaces, and as a sought-out lecturer and a TEDx speaker, Kriska provides expert insights and actionable strategies in her book to help you:  Effectively repair division. Recognize warning signs. Proactively create opportunities.   And, more specifically and most importantly,  how to create WE-builders to help close any gap between people who are separated by ethnicity, language, race, religion, or any factor that divides .  Kriska explains tha