Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

Having a mentor is one of the best things you can do to advance your career as a leader. So, decide soon to secure a mentor who will work with you during 2026. Make that one of your New Year’s resolutions. A mentor can benefit leaders new to their leadership role, and they can benefit experienced and seasoned leaders, as well. A strong mentoring relationship allows the mentor and the mentee to develop new skills and talents, to build confidence, and to build self-awareness. Proper mentoring takes a commitment from both parties, and it takes time to develop and to reap the rewards of the relationship. Plan to work with your mentor for no less than three months, and ideally for six months or longer. When seeking out a mentor, think about these questions : 1.  Will the relationship have good personal chemistry? 2.  Can this person guide me, particularly in the areas where I am weakest? 3.  Will this person take a genuine interest in me? 4.  Does this person have the tra...

T he book,  How To Get Along With Anyone , by  John Eliot  and  Jim Guinn , is the playbook for predicting and preventing conflict at work and at home.  As you read the book, you will discover how to defuse any heated conflict by learning which of the five conflict styles you are and how to resolve even the most sensitive dispute with this must-read guide.  Through decades of building and facilitating team chemistry for Fortune 500 companies, professional sports franchises, schools and government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and families, Eliot and Guinn have discovered people respond to conflict in one of these five ways:  Avoider : Uninterested in minor details; excels in solitary work with a knack for concentration.  Competitor : Always pushing the envelope; never rests on laurel and takes risks for achievement.  Analyzer : Evidence-based and methodical; patiently gathers information before acting.  Collaborator : A deeply carin...

“Experiential Intelligence provides a new lens from which to view what makes you, you—and what makes your team and organization unique,” says  Soren Kaplan , author of the book,  Experiential Intelligence . Kaplan explains that over 100 years ago, we established IQ (Intelligence Quotient) to predict success. Then we explored Emotional Intelligence (EQ), the theory of multiple intelligences, and mindsets that broaden the definition of smarts.   “Today,  Experiential Intelligence  ( XQ ) expands our understanding of what's needed to thrive in a disruptive world. While you can't change the past, your unique experiences and stories contain hidden strengths and untapped potential for the future,” explains Kaplan.   Experiential Intelligence is the combination of mindsets, abilities, and know-how  gained from your unique life experiences that empowers you to achieve your goals. It allows you to get in touch with the accumulated wisdom and talents you have ga...

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 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...

I read many books about leadership and this book is one of my favorites. It’s  The Psychology of Leadership  by  Sebastien Page . It offers a fresh take on leadership through the lens of groundbreaking research in positive, sports, and personality psychology.  “Like exercise strengthens your body, practicing positive, sports, and personality psychology will make you a better leader,” says Page.  The book blends research, fascinating true stories, humor, and self-improvement advice to deliver simple yet powerful principles to master the mental game of leadership.  Page reveals timeless strategies for achieving lasting impact, fostering growth, and promoting well-being. He demonstrates how leaders and individuals can balance measurable goals with practical approaches to maximize performance and fulfillment.  “Effective leadership is not merely about achieving measurable outcomes. It requires aligning goals with intrinsic motivations and psychological ins...

  With 2026 fast approaching, it's a good time to identify your New Year's Resolutions for next year. To get you started, how about selecting one or more of the following 70 New Year's resolutions for leaders? Perhaps write down five to ten and then between now and January 1, think about which couple you want to work on during 2026. 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 deci...

The book,   Reinventing the Leader ,  is an inspiring account of the magic that can happen when a leader realizes they must undergo their own transformation in order to transform their organization.  This candid and practical book by  Guilherme  ( Gui) Loureiro , Regional CEO overseeing Walmex, Walmart Canada, and Walmart Chile (now Chairman of the Board for Walmex and Regional CEO for Canada, Chile, Central America, and Mexico), and his executive leadership coach  Carlos Marin  shows how even the most successful leaders must be open to personal change in order to transform their company. The book details how the pair pioneered a data-driven, customer-centric business transformation at Walmex—Walmart’s biggest division outside of the United States. “This book is a blueprint for transformational success for leaders in any business who find themselves facing the need to retool their own company’s systems and operations and energize and inspire an entire ...

“As we age, the instinct to matter crystallizes into the fundamental need to be seen, heard, valued, and needed,” says  Zach Mercurio  Ph.D., author of the book,  The Power Of Mattering: How Leaders Can Create A Culture Of Significance . “The need to matter never goes away. And if our need to matter is satisfied, we flourish.”   Mercurio explains that mattering is created through small, repeated interactions that ensure people feel noticed, affirmed, and needed.   These three ingredients form these  three leadership practices :   Noticing:   the practice of seeing and hearing others.   Affirming:   the practice of showing people how their unique gifts make a difference.   Needing:   the practice of showing people how they're relied on and indispensable.     Part One  of Mercurio’s book illuminates the  what  and  why  of mattering and offers you a self-assessment to measure your mattering skil...