Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

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 is 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

Having conducted extensive field research, Ranjay Gulati , author of the book, Deep Purpose , The Heart and Soul of High-Performance Companies , reveals the fatal mistakes leaders unwittingly make when attempting to implement a reason for being.   “My interviews with well over 200 executives across 18 firms revealed the secrets of these companies—not the usual facile frameworks, but new ways of thinking about business that allow leaders and companies to operate with heightened passion, urgency, and clarity,” shares Gulati. “I call this, deep purpose .”   Furthermore, Gulati explains that most leaders think of purpose functionally or instrumentally, regarding it as a tool they can wield. On the other hand, deep purpose leaders think of it as something more fundamental; an existential statement that expresses the firm’s very reason for being. These leaders project it faithfully out onto the world.   “Rethinking the nature of purpose should prompt you in turn to re-imagine ...

Check out the  definitive book on servant leadership . It's a curated collection of incredibly insightful and motivational perspectives on servant leadership via essays by 44 servant leaders. Edited by  Ken Blanchard  and  Renee Broadwell ,  Servant Leadership in Action , includes the personal stories from some of the most well-respected authorities on leadership: Patrick Lencioni John C. Maxwell Marshall Goldsmith Stephen M. R. Covey Plus, you'll read keen advice from celebrated sports coaches, company CEO's, pastors and retired military leaders. Each of the  44 stories/chapters  stands strong on its own. However, Blanchard and Broadwell group them within  six parts : Fundamentals of Servant Leadership Elements of Servant Leadership Lessons in Servant Leadership Examples of Servant Leadership Putting Servant Leadership to Work Servant Leadership Turnarounds Get your pen or highlighter ready. You're sure to take lots of notes as you capture advice...

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...

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 ...

Here’s another must-read book to add to your list as you transition from manager to leader. It’s  The Leap to Leader , by  Adam Bryant . As the creator of the iconic “Corner Office” column in the  New York Times , Bryant has spoken with more than a thousand leaders over the years about the challenges and nuances of leadership. Many of his discussions are included in his interview series on LinkedIn.  “The goal of this book is to provide an intensely practical guide to making that transition by sharing insights, stories, and approaches from hundreds of leaders to build the skills you will need to make the leap to leader,” explains Bryant.   He adds that the book is useful to everyone who is interested in leadership, regardless of where they are in their career.   The book covers:   The central paradox of leaders: selfless vs. self-centered. How to perfect the do-to-say ratio. Ways to navigate office politics. Tactics to making better decisions. The cruc...

Today, I bring back one of my most-read blog posts from 2017. It read as follows: At the end of each year, I select my choice for the  best new leadership book  for that year and then highlight that book on my blog. Well, we're only five months into 2017 and there is a new leadership book so good that I can't wait until year-end to share it with you. And it's likely to be among the select few options for best new leadership book of 2017. It's called,  The Inspiration Code , by  Kristi Hedges . Perhaps now more than any other time, the need for inspirational leadership is critical in the workplace. Filled with profound insights and compelling data and based on a commissioned survey on who and what inspires people, Hedges uncovers a set of consistent, learnable behaviors that dramatically enhance leadership success. And shows you  how to inspire those you lead. And, how to energize people every day . Kristi Hedges But, first, what exactly is inspiration? Hedges ex...

In  Paul Falcone ’s book,  75 Ways For Managers To Hire, Develop And Keep Great Employees , he recommends asking new employees the following questions 30, 60 and 90 days after they were hired:   30-Day One-on-One Follow-Up Questions Why do you think we selected you as an employee? What do you like about the job and the organization so far? What’s been going well? What are the highlights of your experiences so far? Why? Tell me what you don’t understand about your job and about our organization now that you’ve had a month to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty. Have you faced any unforeseen surprises since joining us that you weren’t expecting?   60-Day One-on-One Follow-Up Questions Do you have enough, too much or too little time to do your work? Do you have access to the appropriate tools and resources? Do you feel you have been sufficiently trained in all aspects of your job to perform at a high level? How do you see your job relating to the organization’...

In their book,  Rapid Realignment , authors  George Labovitz  and  Victor Rosansky , reveal the most common responses from  thousands of managers and workers  when they were asked to think of the best boss they ever had, and then answer the question: " What did that person do to qualify as your best boss ?" And,  those most common responses were : My best boss listened! My best boss backed me up. My best boss trusted me and respected me. My best boss gave me feedback. My best boss left me alone. What else would you add to this list?

Years ago,  Entrepreneur  magazine offered these timeless and valuable tips on  how to give praise : Praise followed by criticism is not praise. Praise followed by praise is probably a little too much praise. Ending an expression of praise with "...and stuff" nullifies the praise. And, Make it timely. The closer the recognition is to the behavior, the more likely the behavior will be repeated. Be sincere. Be impromptu.  Remember, a handwritten note is worth more than a gift card. Having trouble writing your handwritten note of praise?  Try this template to get you started : _______, I couldn't be more impressed with how you______.  Not only did you____, but also you_______.  Beautiful. Thanks, ________

“By focusing in specific ways on five key leadership elements— Purpose, Process, People, Presence, and Peace —you can increase your time, capacity, energy, and ultimately your leadership impact,” explains  Amy Jen Su , author of the book,  The Leader You Want To Be: Five Essential Principles for Bringing Out Your Best Self—Every Day . Su shares both Western management thinking and Eastern philosophy to provide a holistic yet hands-on approach to becoming a more effective leader with less stress and more equanimity. She draws on rich and instructive stories of clients, leaders, artists, and athletes. And, she focuses on three foundational tenets: s elf-care, self-awareness, and personal agency . Most important, Su explores in depth, chapter-by-chapter the  Five Ps : Purpose  – Staying grounded in your passions and contributions, doing your highest and best work that has meaning and is making a difference. Process  – Relying on daily practices and routines that ho...

Here, from the book,  Be A Network Marketing Leader , are some tips on how, as a leader, you can connect with your individual team members: Send cards on their birthdays and anniversary-of-joining dates. Keep yourself updated with what's happening in their personal lives. Show your support during personal or family crises. Schedule weekly one-on-one phone calls or meetings. Pay attention. When you see an increase, decrease or change in results, get in touch. Schedule monthly whole team meetings. Applaud achievements and address concerns immediately. Be consistent. Make frequent thoughtful, spontaneous gestures. Thank you to the book's publisher for sending me a copy of the book.

"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 d...

“Great leaders are great students, and the world is their classroom,” says   Damon Lembi , author of the new book   The Learn-It-all Leader .  “Learn-It-All leaders are constantly creating and re-creating themselves, their companies, and their leadership. They are information extractors. They pull what they learn about everything—be it product innovation or how to inspire a team—from their lived experience,” adds Lembi.  These types of leaders also model and directly encourage a culture of learning inside their organizations. This attracts higher-quality workers, improves their performance over time and holds onto them longer.  The book is divided into two parts: Part 1:  Being  –  explores how Learn-It-All leaders think . Part 2:  Doing  –  examines what Learn-It-All leaders do differently .  Damon Lembi Some of my favorite takeaways (including some quotes) from the book include:  Quote : “Live as if you were to die tomor...