Leaders: 7 Smart Things To Do To Drive Success

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.

Comments

How To Harness Employee Experience Design To Attract And Retain The Best Talent

Employee Experience Design (EXD) is designing with people and not for them. It’s a proven method for engaging and collaborating with your employees to help solve your most difficult workplace challenges. You’ll learn all about EXD in the new book, Employee Experience Desing: How To Co-Create Work Where People And Organizations Thrive , by Dean E. Carter , Samantha Gadd, and Mark Levy . “Many organizations are drowning in policies and initiatives. EXD is a way to reduce that burden while delivering better results both for employees and for the bottom line,” explain the authors. The book includes inspiring stories from brands like Airbnb and Patagonia, among many others, including those in retail, healthcare, hospitality, apparel, and biotech. It describes the power that’s unleashed when organizations design with and not for their employees. The first part of the book covers The Why of why EXD is so important and addresses legitimate – and tough –...

How To Survive, Reset And Then Thrive

“Uncertainty is here to stay. Rather than seeing it as an obstacle to overcome, integrate it into your strategic approach to invigorate your high-growth potential and outperform competition under any market condition,” explains Rebecca Homkes , author of the book, Survive, Reset, Thrive . “Most books aren’t honest enough about how hard it is to reset ,” adds Homkes. Yet, resetting and leaning into change is essential. “If you are ready to embrace change as a central element of your growth strategy, this book is for you.” Homkes’ book is a timely, comprehensive, and essential read for business leaders looking to take the next step toward ensuring high growth for their companies. The book brings together more than 15 years of Homkes working directly with high-growth companies of all sizes and across a wide variety of industries. Survive, Reset, Thrive (SRT) is a practical and innovative interconnected three-mode approach : Survive : Stabil...

How To Be A Superboss

Here are ten questions (or bundles of questions) you should ask yourself to ensure you are thinking and acting like a superboss . These are from Sydney Finkelstein 's book, Superbosses . Do you have a specific vision for your work that energizes you, and that you use to energize and inspire your team? How often do people leave your team to accept a bigger offer elsewhere? What's that like when it happens? Do you push your reports to meet only the formal goals set for the team, or are there other goals that employees sometimes also strive to achieve? How do you go about questioning your own assumptions about the business? How do you get your team to do the same about their own assumptions? How do you balance the need to delegate responsibilities to team members with the need to provide hands-on coaching to them? How much time do you usually spend coaching employees? When promoting employees, do you ever put them into challenging jobs where they potentially might fail? I...

How To Build Great Work Relationships

Here is a book I wish was published back when I was early in my career. It’s called, Bosses, Coworkers, and Building Great Work Relationships . It’s one of four books in the new Harvard Business Review ( HBR ) Work Smart Series . The book includes adapted content from 20 articles that previously appeared on HBR.org. “We probably spend more hours with our coworkers than with anyone else. So even if they’re not all perfect, it’s worth it to build connections that will provide you with support, help you network and learn, and keep your career moving forward,” shares HBR. “This book helps readers make so-so work relationships better, keep the bad ones from bringing them down, and help them build lasting connections with incredible people.” HBR adds that the book includes chapter takeaways and dozens of resources so that you can go beyond the book to engage in the media (video, audio, etc.) you learn from best. As you read Bosses, C...

Don't Delay Tough Conversations With Your Employees

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 your taking the time to have the tough conversation means you care about them. You want them to do better. You believe they can do better. ...

How To Be A Generous Leader

Speaking about his book, The Generous Leader , author Joe Davis says, “This book is about the ways in which you can become a generous leader to be part of something bigger than yourself .” He adds that the old model for a leader – a top-down, unilateral, single-focus boss, isn’t effective in today’s workplace. “That old model no longer attracts talent, invites collaboration, or gets the best results from the team. That leader’s time is passed. Today, there is a need for a more human-centered, bighearted, authentic way to lead,” adds Davis. To help you become a generous leader, Davis introduces you to seven essential elements that he believes will develop you into a leader for the future . The seven elements are: Generous Communication : Be real to build deep connections. Be available to connect with the person, and not just the person in their role to make them feel seen. Generous Listening : Be sincerely curious about another...

Honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day On January 19 By Volunteering

As the nation honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, January 19, volunteer or make the decision to volunteer in your community. King routinely asked “ What are you doing for others ,” and January 19th is the ideal day to ask yourself that question. The federal holiday was first observed in 1994 when Congress designated it as a National Day of Service, inspired by King’s words, “everybody can be great because anybody can serve.” You can turn to Idealist (.org)* and similar types of websites to find volunteer opportunities right in your neighborhood or nearby surrounding area. Visit the web site, type in your zip code/city, and you will be presented with a variety of organizations seeking volunteers. And, if you are a leader in the workplace, encourage your team members to volunteer in the community as individuals. Or organize team volunteer afternoons or evenings for your employees. *VolunteerMatch merged with Idealist in January 2025.

29 People Who Taught Us Life Lessons In Courage, Integrity And Leadership

The 29 profiles you will read in Robert L. Dilenschneider’s new book, Character , are about people who are exceptional exemplars of character. They’re inspirational because they used their abilities at their highest levels to work for causes they believed in. Because of character, they influenced the world for good. The dictionary defines “character” as the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual, the distinctive nature of something, the quality of being individual in an interesting or unusual way, strength and originality in a person’s nature, and a person’s good reputation. “But beyond these definitions, we know that character is manifested in leadership, innovation, resilience, change, courage, loyalty, breaking barriers, and more,” explains Robert (Bob), “Character drives the best traits in our society, such as honesty, integrity, leadership, and transparency, and it drives others to exhibit those qualities.” Profiled in the book ar...

Dig Deep For Ideas

The next time you are looking for ideas for how to grow revenue, streamline processes and procedures and/or reduce expenses, dig deep within your organization . Don't ask only your direct reports for their suggestions. Instead, ask everyone at all levels . Some of the best ideas will come from your lower and mid-level employees who are interacting with your vendors, customers and co-workers every day in the very areas that, if improved, could make the most dramatic impact. Be sure to acknowledge receipt of each idea . Keep everyone informed of the types of ideas you've received . Perhaps update them on a monthly basis. When you implement a suggestion, recognize and reward the submitter , including possibly financially. Feel free to accept ideas anonymously. But, if employees know you are sincere about wanting their input, and witness you acting upon suggestions, most of your team members will be proud to tie their names to their ideas. Finally...

Listen To Others, Especially Before You Speak

Here is a great message from the book, Stronger: Develop the Resilience You Need to Succeed : Listen to Others, Especially Before You Speak When we think of people who possess extraordinary interpersonal skill, we find they are good listeners. In even the briefest of encounters, they can make you feel important. According to author Denise Restauri, charismatic people are good listeners who make the conversation about the other person. they show genuine interest. They let the world revolve around the other person. They remember the other person's name-- and they use it. So, when you listen to people, truly listen. Look at the other person with interest. Do not multitask.

Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

Search This Blog