Guides & Resources
Leading & Living as Uniquely You
We say every person can lead. Everyone can be a good leader. And that is true. No matter which school of thought from which you look at leadership, there is nothing stopping a person from leading and leading effectively. Evidently no one person is born with all the traits or qualities but every single person can learn new leadership behaviors and…
Leadership Shifts Transforming Organizations Today
McKinsey released their state of organizations, 2023 report a few days ago. In this report, they identified 10 shifts transforming organizations today. And here is what they found about leadership that is capable of transforming organizations today: “Leadership that is self-aware and inspiring. Leaders today need to be able to lead themselves, lead a team of peers in…
Flying on the Wings of Others
From very early on in my leadership studies, I embraced the authentic leadership model and set out to make it the center of my research studies. When you carry out a research study, scholars want to know why the subject matter is of interest to you. I recall saying that I believe that authentic leadership model embraces…
A win or Continuous Improvement?
Over this past weekend, at a track meet, I overheard two parents talking about their high school kids competing at the meet. One said, “ she just needs to win her race. She only needs to win a race”. The other parent said her daughter is focused on improving with each race. “She wants to improve her time with…
Causal Exploration – The Two types of “Why”
The “why?” question can be constructive or destructive. Why can propel you forward or paralyze you. It can keep you where you are or push you further downwards. It is important to know when you are using it constructively and when you are using it destructively. Let’s look at the constructive use first. My 14-year-old son is training…
Enduring and Trusting Relationships at Work
No matter where you are in your leadership journey, your buoyancy hinges on relationships. There is a lot of focus on burnout at the moment with executives and professionals. The starting point in dealing with stress and burnout is usually a quick audit of where and how you are spending your time. This process often leads to…
Cultivating Influence
In a recent conversation with a client, we talked about how to improve the team’s performance. It was like one of those aha moments, to learn that team leadership is not about control and authority but rather it is about influence. As good as that sounded, it did not mean much as the perplexed look on his…
Effective Leadership Requires Change of Mindset
According to a recent McKinsey research (02/23), up to 50 percent of CEO confront failure early in their tenure and “those who succeed realize the importance of rewriting their work habits and mindsets”. CEOs in their new role had to rewrite their mindsets? How? Why? Leadership is not business as usual from one organization to the other…
Leading from the Core of Excellence (3): Involving others and operating from a deep moral root.
To lead from the core of excellence is an intentional and highly introspective process. Tracing the history authenticity always takes one to this statement by Socrates; “Know thyself”. Socrates will go further to say that “an unexamined life is not worth living”. Introspection offers a space for the leader/an individual to reflect how he/she/them are living out…
Leading from the Core of Excellence (2)
Authentic leaders inspire, empower and grow others. How? A second key element in building the core of excellence is Relational Transparency…turn it around and it will mean the same thing …transparency in relationships. To lead from the core of excellence requires consistent transparency in the way you as a leader relate to others. The process of influence is…