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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Let Your Team Members Select the Song
Music can serve as a transition, a backdrop, or an announcement. Specific songs can add energy, create emphasis, or signal important meanings or values. Maybe that’s why people so look forward to selecting just the right song for the occasion. Encouraging team members to select the song that best represents them or the moment doesn’t…
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No One Is Too Senior to Be Wrong
Everyone agrees that close-mindedness is a disease that undermines effective leadership. Leaders who presume they are right and refuse to consider other points of view make a mess of whatever they encounter. The quality of their decisions can be found at the dollar store. When combined with a feeling of entitlement or privilege, inflexibility in
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Don’t Delay an Obvious Decision
Don’t Delay an Obvious Decision. Problems don’t pause for red lights. They continue to advance until they are solved. Taking your time to think things through and act prudently should be the default course of action. But when the answer is as clear as daylight, any delay prevents progress. Postponing the obvious choice can also…
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Urging Team Members to Play More Aggressively
The pundits like to say that every moment is a new beginning. This rings true for those with an eye toward improving performance. But some moments are easier than others. Going from low energy to high energy, or passive play to aggressive play, makes the shift for improvement much harder. The best leaders know that…
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The Unique Way We Do Things Around Here
Strong team cultures share a common quality. They have a particular way of doing a lot of things. From how they celebrate to how they start meetings, great cultures invent unique ways of doing common activities in an uncommon way. Some of the distinctive ways of doing things arise organically from the creative whim of a
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Practice Team Improvisation to Improve Execution
Symbolic events, experiences, and messages provide a rich and nuanced way to communicate complex ideas and emotions. When they convey powerful feelings, they invite people to bring their own interpretations about what is important and essential in life or in the workplace. Symbols work by crystalizing an idea or an emotion by presenting an image…
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Symbolism and Forrest Gump Point
Symbolic events, experiences, and messages provide a rich and nuanced way to communicate complex ideas and emotions. When they convey powerful feelings, they invite people to bring their own interpretations about what is important and essential in life or in the workplace. Symbols work by crystalizing an idea or an emotion by presenting an image…
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After a Team Defeat, Be a First Responder
After a major setback, mishap, or defeat, the best leaders don’t immediately act like cheerleaders. Rather, they show up more like first responders. Just as real-world technicians who are trained to respond immediately to an emergency situation, the best leaders are first on the scene after a setback to provide the care necessary for a…
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How to Scale Leadership Across an Organization
To truly scale leadership, design a program that doesn’t allow leaders to talk at each other. Ever. Instead, create an uninterrupted conversation that invites vibrant debate and discussion about how to lead. Leave the abstract ideas, frameworks, and theories for those executive education classes at universities that are more geared toward passive learning. To scale…
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Fail Small, Fail Early
Despite the contemporary view that leaders learn more from failure than from success, no one tries to make a habit of failing. Failing is painful and can have significant consequences for future opportunities and decisions. Once confronted with a failure, good leaders do their best to make the best of the insights and learnings that