Category: Leading Yourself

When You’re Not So Little Any More

The Past Won’t Take You Forward

Remember the Good Old Days?  It was just you and a few employees. We all shared in the excitement of our successes, the misery of our failures, and the anxiety of the unknown. But we were in it together. Everyone knew what the others cared about, what they Good Old Dayswere good at, and what they weren’t. And we all did whatever it took to succeed.

Communication just happened automatically. No need for organization structures and policies and complex systems. We hardly needed to write anything down.  When something needed communicated, we just talked.

And it worked! Look how successful we’ve become!

But Now…

Continue reading When You’re Not So Little Any More

My Competence Is My Enemy

When Strength Becomes Weakness

Your hard work, education, and self-discipline have paid off. Congratulations for rising to a position of authority and leadership! People respect you. Your competence is often sought by others, both within your organization and by others in your industry and even outside your industry.Competence Tug of War

But now you’ve hit a plateau. The opportunities are there but you can’t seem to grow your organization fast enough to meet the demand. You recognize the bottleneck is leadership. You can’t find enough skillful leaders that you can trust to make good decisions. So every issue gets pushed up to a few very busy people.  Maybe it’s only one person: You. Continue reading My Competence Is My Enemy

Deciding How Much to Say…

Meeting the Needs of Your Audience

Get me talking about one of my passions and I can bore you to tears in minutes.  But that doesn’t mean I won’t ramble on for hours! Whether you’re in a one-on-one meeting, presenting to the board of directors, or addressing a large audience, how do you decide how much to say when sharing your expertise?

Know Why You’re There

Unless you’re the one who called the meeting and set the agenda, it’s a safe bet the organizer invited you to provide some information or perspective that the audience lacks and needs. It’s your responsibility to find out – preferably ahead of time – exactly what need you’re expected to meet. Clarity sets you up for success.  Making assumptions sets you up for failure. Rarely is an audience satisfied just by you rambling on to demonstrate the breadth of your knowledge. Continue reading Deciding How Much to Say…

Developing T-Shaped Skills

Bringing Value through Depth and Breadth

It’s great to be recognized as an expert. And experts do bring value to organizations that need their specific expertise. But sometimes experts are so focused in their field that they are practically unintelligible to the rest of us.T-shaped skills

Generalists, on the other hand, can bring value by connecting the dots across disciplines to get diverse functions to work together. But the jack-of-all-trades hits a wall when a master-of-one is needed.

I recognize the value of both experts and generalists. But if I’m building an organization I’ll place the highest value on the team members who have “T-Shaped Skills”. Continue reading Developing T-Shaped Skills

Productivity is a Team Sport

Time Management Isn’t Just Personal

Everyone wrestles with time management challenges at one time or another. I have a library full of resources with “surefire” solutions to this ubiquitous problem. But what works great for some doesn’t work for others. We’re not all the same and personal time management starts with knowing ourselves. But that’s a topic for another time.Productivity impact

Where most of these resources fall short is that they’re all about “me”. How do I become more productive? Seems logical, but… Continue reading Productivity is a Team Sport

Character Traits: Selflessness

Personal Success in Helping Others Succeed

At the core of good character is the recognition that we win most by helping others win.

SelflessnessI find it helpful to think of good character in terms of three TRAITS: Integrity, Selflessness, and Responsibility. Each of those traits can be further detailed as a set of ATTRIBUTES. (See diagram.) The central trait of good character is Selflessness.

Selflessness

If you had to choose between living in a world where everyone was selfish and one where everyone was completely selfless, which would you choose? Continue reading Character Traits: Selflessness

Character Traits: Responsibility

The Right Thing Above My Own Thing

“Character” is easier to recognize than it is to define in a succinct and meaningful way. It’s about mental and moral qualities that define what “normal” is for us. Some have defined it as who we are when no one else is looking.

ResponsibilityMy way of getting a handle on good character is to define it in terms of three TRAITS: Integrity, Selflessness, and Responsibility. Each of those traits can be further detailed as a set of ATTRIBUTES. (See diagram.) Let’s explore the trait of Responsibility.

Responsibility

When you’re responsible for something, you accept that you own the success or failure of it. No excuses, no passing the buck or blaming others.

A responsible person keeps their eyes focused on the things that matter most. The choices they make demonstrate a willingness to say “no” to personal desires to fulfill their commitments. That also implies they recognize their own limitations and don’t commit to what they can’t deliver. Continue reading Character Traits: Responsibility

Character Traits: Integrity

The Real You, Everywhere, All the Time

Would you prefer to hire people of good character or bad character? Silly question…perhaps even sillier is to ask whether you want to be known as a person of good character or bad. But what is good character?

IntegrityThere are countless adjectives that could describe aspects of good character. I use a model that describes it in terms of three TRAITS: Integrity, Selflessness, and Responsibility. Each of those traits can be further detailed as a set of ATTRIBUTES. (See diagram.)

Integrity

In grade school we learned about integers – whole numbers, not fractions. That’s the essence of the word integrity: To be complete, consistent, undivided. With a person of integrity, what you see is what you get. You don’t wonder which person you’ll see under today’s circumstances; you can count on them to be real all the time. Even if being real causes them personal discomfort or even pain. Continue reading Character Traits: Integrity

The Boss vs. The Company

Who Do You Follow?

The BossThe popularity of my article, When The Boss Doesn’t Get It, leads me to address a related challenge…

The scenario: Your boss is all about his own reputation. In fact, sometimes he tells you to do things that will help him look good, even when the company or your clients will suffer for it. You’re between the old proverbial rock-and-a-hard-place.
Continue reading The Boss vs. The Company

When the Boss Doesn’t Get It…

How Do You Succeed?

Let’s just say it up front: No one’s perfect so there’s probably something every boss doesn’t get. But not all of those “somethings” are created equal. There’s no shortage of bosses who get how to manage but are clueless about how to lead people. And being “led” by a bad leader can be incredibly painful!

There is no silver bullet to overcome this challenge. But you are not helpless. In fact, if you handle it well your difficult situation can be a powerful gift for developing your own emotional intelligence and communication skills.

Continue reading When the Boss Doesn’t Get It…