Internationally known executive coach, keynote speaker and leadership educator
Change is easy if we are not the one altering our thinking or our behaviors. But within organizations, no one is exempt from change; everyone must do his or her bit to advance the process.
“Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change,” Confucius once said. Most of us know plenty of the latter but few, if any, of the former.
And change is possible when you acknowledge the obstacles but refuse to allow them to overwhelm you.
How do organizations appear when they lack a sense of purpose?
Listless!
Employees feel as if they are drifting on a raft without a rudder. They lack direction as well as motivation. They also feel underappreciated and disengaged. By contrast, when people feel purposeful they are engaged and they put forth the effort to succeed for themselves and by extension the entire organization.
Purposeful organizations apply intention to what they do. Organizations that lack purpose drift and drag and by doing so waste the skills and talents of their employees.
First posted on Smart Brief on 1/16/2015
It takes a strong person to speak truth to power. And so leaders need to surround themselves with strong people, unafraid to tell the boss – the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Leaders need to make it safe for those who give feedback. They should invite push-back, to welcome people who disagree, and, in fact, to reward them for doing so.
A leader who invites dissent is one who is secure within his or her own self to be the person others embrace as their leader.
Does a leader need an enemy to succeed?
Leaders run risks when they act on the negative. Negativity may win an election but it does not lead to good governance. A leader must stand for something, not simply against something else. Having an enemy can help when gaining attention for a cause, but using that enemy and hatred of it, as a foundation for leadership is a risky proposition. Leaders need to focus more on what they stand for.
Letting people know what you can do is far better than letting people know whom you dislike.
First posted on Smart Brief on 3/13/2015