FieldNotes
Our daily Field Notes email is just the kind of jumpstart you need. A fast read. Maybe less than a minute. Because sometimes it just takes one insight to change the trajectory of the day.
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Sometimes a Key Fact Alters the Decision
The popular process of Inverse Analysis is largely a method of finding one or more critical facts. By working backward from a desired outcome and determining the steps or conditions necessary to achieve it, critical facts often emerge that couldn’t be seen in the normal decision-making process. Leaders never know when they might stumble on…
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The Unusual Way We Protect Self-Image
Leaders orient to people in many ways. They can be people pleasers, conflict-avoiders, trash talkers, gossipmongers, straight shooters, and hard-liners. But they share one thing in common. All people, including leaders, want to be viewed positively by others. No one wants to be seen in a negative light, even if they sometimes unintentionally flip that
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The Five Levels of Trust
We like to think of trust as a binary judgment. We either trust someone or we don’t. If only. In reality, trust is a complex feeling replete with layers or levels that work to build a pyramid of connection with others. No wonder trust is so hard to create and so easy to lose. At the
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Developing the Superpower of Curiosity
Consider this small list as you work to create some of your own: modeling the night sky to learn astronomy, creating ice cream to learn physics, reenacting a battlefield to learn military strategy, grafting roots onto a new plant to learn botany, taking a yoga class to learn the anatomy of muscles and tendons. Seeking…
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Why Power Corrupts
Power can corrupt. No one is immune from the desire to create more self-worth. Yet there are distinctive ways to prevent the natural order of accumulating power and resources from spiraling out of control. In addition to consistent feedback, one key is to share the opportunities, experiences, and rewards with others, especially the team. Great…
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When a Situation Calls for Tough Love
Tough love is not a leadership style, nor should it be used indiscriminately. Good leaders reserve it for when a team member or family member engages in behavior that is causing extreme harm or conflict. Without it, some people won’t change or grow. As difficult as it is to master, good leaders work hard at…
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Do I Have to Be a Jerk to Succeed?
Successful jerks make for a better story than those people of talent who don’t make waves or news. It’s not that there are more jerks among successful people. It’s just that we hear a lot more about them. The real news is that becoming highly successful doesn’t make you a person of quality or stop…
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The Power of Repeated Words
The Power of Repeated Words. Finding the word or expression that works best for you is a matter of preference. Once you land on one, stick with it and let it work its magic. No wonder, in some cultures, mantras were passed as secrets from one generation to the next. Repeated words and expressions provide…
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Listen Like You’re Wrong
Starting conversations with the premise that you are likely wrong in your thinking or understanding makes you a much different listener. Listening with the presumption that there is something you don’t know but need to is equally powerful. In both cases, you become less of an advocate for your opinions and more curious about what
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Avoid the Drama and the People Who Live for It
Once deprived of their need, they will either learn that the leader and team are uninterested in unnecessary conflict and curb it, or they will increase the volume to create even more of it. If they refuse to restrain themselves, the best direction to point them is toward the door. Good leaders don’t give legitimacy…