That was the conversation with my husband this morning: the laundry is never done. There’s always more, often right after you’ve just done a whole lotta loads. Leadership, likewise, is never done. Yeah, I know: kind of a cheesy analogy, right? But I think there are a lot of people who believe that if they just take the right class, or read the right book, …
Thermostat – or thermometer?
Have you noticed there are some people that just seem to exude calm? And there are other people who seem to exude chaos? There’s an old, intended-to-be-amusing rhyme that goes: “When in danger or in doubt, Run in circles! Scream and shout!” Not very funny, really, because that’s obviously the epitome of unhelpful – and the epitome of what leaders …
Got conflict?
If you’re trying to remove all tension and conflict within your team, you’re doing it wrong. Any attempt to create a bubble in which no one disagrees with anyone else never works. As General George Patton said, “If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.” Squashing disagreement means squashing creativity, innovation, and problem-solving. It means potentially disastrous (and certainly …
Communication, Comfort, and Tools
I teach tools for communication and leadership, rather than scripts, templates, or blueprints, for a very specific reason: tools adapt to the situations within which we use them, but scripts, templates, and blueprints are fixed – static – rote. I also talk about the problem of what I call “communi-telling”: top-down delivery of information or mandates about what is going …
A little respect, please
I’m not one to make wild generalizations, but I think it’s safe to say that everyone, no matter who they are or what they believe, wants to feel respected. BUT – and it’s a significant BUT – there’s a difference between earned respect and owed respect. It’s generally understood that people in positions of power are “owed” respect, because of their title, …
How to lead through uncertainty
What a great click-bait title for today’s environment, right? The fact is, when the uncertainty is this extreme, and even CEOs aren’t sure what to expect or what to do, well, what are the options? There are four basic trauma reactions: fight, flight, freeze, and fawn. We’re seeing all of these. Multiple BigLaw firms have chosen fawn, volunteering to donate tens …
Who has a voice?
Who, What, When. Who can say something; What they can say; and When they can say it. This is a cornerstone of culture, whether good or bad. (Note that I didn’t say a cornerstone of corporate culture. It is that, but it’s much broader; it’s a cornerstone of all culture, whether that’s family, community, corporate, or country.) Who has a voice? …
The need for variability
Last week, I wrote that leadership isn’t math – that “leader plus situation” does not always equal a specific action. Two plus two will always equal four, but leadership is, as I said in that article, a big fuzzy gray area. An astute reader, who occasionally sends me thoughtful and articulate responses to my articles (thank you, Mark!), did exactly that, …
Leadership isn’t math
Two plus two is four. Every time. Leader plus team … doesn’t add up the same every time. Leader plus employee – likewise. As much as we love to think we can teach people to be leaders by teaching them leadership styles, leadership models, leadership rules – we can’t. Leadership doesn’t add up the same every time; it’s situational, a …
Appreciate is a Verb
We’re supposed to show appreciation – as leaders, as friends, as community members, within our families. It’s a good thing, right? And it’s often expressed verbally. “You’re awesome!” “You rock!” “You’re amazing!” Other times, it’s about something specific. “You did a great job on that report – thank you.” Being specific about appreciation – about what we’re responding to – …