One of the most challenging aspects of moving into leadership is the decision making required of leaders. And one of the hardest sets of decisions new leaders face is how to spend their time. Here is the bottom line: No one will manage your time for you. You’ll face tons of requests for meetings, which …
There are very few scenarios growing up where I got to witness contingency planning in action. Think about your own life. When you or your family planned a vacation, did you ever hear someone plan an alternative in case you couldn’t make it? Or couldn’t afford it? When your parents scheduled time to meet with …
At least once a quarter I try to step away from the hustle and bustle of work to think more reflectively and strategically about where things are going. The reality is that there is a lot of stuff that isn’t under our own control. And yet most of us are hard at work with our …
As leaders we will engage and inspire our teams most effectively when we’re both consistent and agile. I recently learned this lesson first hand, from my wife.
Today I was on a phone call with a peer of mine at work, the VP of Engineering at Liquid Web. Within 20 minutes anyone listening to our call would have known I was speaking to a leader, not just a manager. Here are the differences that are easy to spot when you know what …
Four differences between a leader and a manager CONTINUE READING
Every team and organization develops their own optimization strategies for staffing, assignments and utilization. The trick is not to fall in love with it.
If people are working off the best or worst case scenario, they’re not thinking effectively enough. Leaders teach others to think past hope. It means learning how to effectively consider a variety of outcomes. And to plan with each contingency in mind.
There is a tendency to shrink the goals of an organization to something attainable, so as not to demoralize the staff. The result of this kind of behavior, unfortunately, is the exact opposite of what was hoped for. The leaders leave and the folks that are left will need the goals lowered again. High performing organizations need to embrace stretch goals.