Let’s start here: leaders, by definition, have followers. And while everyone’s actions have a broader impact than most of us realize, a leader’s impact has ripples that fan out across – dare I say it – multitudes. This is obvious when we look at leaders in high places: CEOs of companies, Executive Directors of nonprofits, military generals, politicians (especially in …
Do you understand?
You’ve been to class, you’ve read books and articles, you’ve watched videos. Whatever you’re studying, you’ve … studied it. Do you understand it? Unless it’s quantum physics – which I’m not sure it’s possible to understand, even by the people doing the science – and assuming you really have studied, you’ll probably say Yes, yes! I understand! Okay, then. Can you do the …
The laundry is never done
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, …
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 …
Whose advice?
Whose advice do you trust? A common interview question for leaders and entrepreneurs is, “What’s the worst career advice you’ve ever gotten?” The followup question, of course, is, “What’s the best?” I’m not here to weigh in on what’s good advice and what’s not. What I do want you to think about is – how do you decide? Whether you’ve …
And then there’s Power
So, what about leadership and power? I was thinking about this question after last week’s article “Why lead?” Some people confuse leading with having power. And yes, leaders have power, but that’s not what’s important for true leadership. Those who go into leadership for the power it confers upon them aren’t leaders, in my view; instead, they’re likely to be toxic petty …
The system is working as designed
The system is working exactly as designed. Mental health. Burnout. A lack of resilience. Toxic culture. Employee disengagement. Manager disengagement. And so on – and on – and on. We talk about these problems a lot. And a lot of the time, we talk about them as if they’re individual issues – “they” need more resilience, “they” need mental health care, …
Leadership tools are good – right?
We all love a good tool, whether a physical tool (my favorite pruning saw! the comfort of my old wood-handled hammer!) or, yes, interpersonal leadership tools (such as the ones I teach). Tools are great. But knowing how to use them is not automatically granted just because we have the tool. First time I tried using that pruning saw, I nearly …
The fuzzy gray ball of leadership
Students in my workshops often ask hypothetical questions about leadership situations – questions to which the only possible answer is, “Well, it depends!” Leadership is a fuzzy gray ball of uncertainty. Or, to put it in somewhat more positive terms, it’s highly nuanced. Which is why, as I wrote last week, I consider formally-defined leadership styles to be functionally useless, …
Leadership “styles” are bunk
I’m going to get pushback on this, but I stand by it: so-called “leadership styles” are bunk. Let’s just start here: go Google “leadership styles.” How many did you find? How consistent were they from one list to the next? You see my point. Every leadership website has a different number, ranging from four on up to – I think …