Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

“All businesses sooner or later face the need to reconstruct their future,” explain the authors of the book,  The Phoenix Encounter Method . “They will need to destroy part or all of the incumbent business model in order to build their breakthrough, future-ready organization.” Therefore, this book shares a new method of leadership thinking –  the Phoenix Encounter  – relevant to all organizations in today’s ever-changing environment. Readers will learn how to proactively bridge the gap between perceiving a threat and doing something about it. Written by three INSEAD professors ( Ian C. Woodward ,  V. “Paddy” Padmanabhan ,  Sameer Hasija ) and  Rum Charan , you’ll learn the steps needed to create a wider range of options to: Defend your organization Fortify its core business Build specific renewal initiatives The steps are grounded in  transformation that includes these   three elements : The Phoenix Attitude : a set of mindsets, habits, and behavi...

Now is a perfect time to read the leadership book,  Leading With Gratitude , by authors  Adrian Gostick  and  Chester Elton .  Published last year, the book provides managers and executives with easy ways to add more gratitude to the everyday work environment to help bolster moral, efficiency, and profitability.  Gostick and Elton also share eight simple ways managers can show employees they are valued . Then, they supplement their insights and advice with stories of how many of today’s most successful leaders successfully incorporated gratitude into their leadership styles.  Earlier, the authors answered this question for me:  Question : During this most unusual and challenging pandemic year, why is it more important than ever to express gratitude? And how best should a leader do that?  Gostick and Elton : “Our research shows there is a staggering gratitude deficit in the work world, especially when times get tough. People are less likely to...

Heed this advice from Julian Birkinshaw, author of the book,  Becoming A Better Boss , on how to be a better leader. Strive to  answer “Yes” to these three questions : Do you invest your time in things that help others to succeed? Do you invest in projects that will help the company in the long run, even if you won’t be around to get any credit for their success? Are you prepared to try out a new way of working that may fail, even if you risk looking foolish?

"Connection is what transforms a dog-eat-dog environment into a sled-dog team that pulls together," says  Michael Lee Stallard , author of the book,  Connection Culture . "Connection builds an emotional bond that promotes trust, cooperation, and esprit de corps among people in the workplace." Based on  shared identity, empathy, and understanding , connection moves primarily self-centered individuals toward group-centered membership. "Without that sense of connection, employees will never each their full potential," states Stallard. The  10 ways you can improve your connection skills  are to: Recognize varying connection needs Be present in conversations Develop the ability to empathize Develop the habit of emphasizing positives Control your tone of voice Negotiate with the mindset to solve a problems rather than to win Provide autonomy in execution Learn to apply the five languages of appreciation  Apologize when you make a mistake Develop social skills an...

Being a good storyteller will serve you well in your leadership role. "A story with a business impact can be as short as one sentence. Or, it can be a three-minute introduction or a thirty-minute product demonstration," says author  Esther K. Choy . "Whatever the case, it will have maximum impact if it includes the following core components," according to Choy: Structural : A story has a beginning, middle, and end. Elemental : A story often has elements including a hero, challenge, journey, resolution, change, and call to action. Authentic : A story reveals a genuine part of the teller, which elicits emotion in the audience. Strategic : A story sparks an audience's imagination, causes them to relate to the situation in the story, and motivates them to act.

A manager who can't make a decision or who can't make a timely decision will frustrate his/her employees. Equally bad, a lack of decision will impede the progress of the manager's team. Some managers make endless requests for data as a way to postpone their having to make a decision.  Employees end up spinning in circles , slicing and dicing the information far beyond what is truly needed for the manager to make a decision. Some managers are simply afraid to make a decision in fear of making a "wrong" decision. These managers don't necessarily request needless data, but simply just never decide. Successful managers gather the data from their employees, make any truly necessary follow-up requests (probing beyond what their employee may have researched/gathered on their own), and then make their decision...knowing that in virtually all cases most decisions are not black and white "right or "wrong," but are the best decisions made at that time for ...

Today's  leadership thought  is  John Wesley's Rule : Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as you ever can.