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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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…
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Change Always Creates Opportunity
Of course, some opportunities are imagined or created through sheer will. The desire and chance to make a difference in yourself or others presents possibilities that otherwise can’t be seen. We make our own opportunities any time we follow our passion to create change rather than just reacting to it. But whether creating change or…
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Always on the Search for Talent
How involved are you in the selection of talent in your organization? As you meet new people in the course of living your professional and personal life, are you attentive to those who possess exceptional skill and talent? Perhaps nothing satisfies a great leader more than unearthing new talent. They know that with more talent,…
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Let Me Remind You Why This Isn’t a Democracy
Involving everyone, or even those directly affected, is not always practical or wise if it slows down the decision-making process. Opportunities lost and problems that spiral out of control are the outcomes of democracy in the workplace. Expertise is another significant reason why democratic decision-making doesn’t make sense in the workplace. In all organizations, specialized…
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Holding Others Accountable Starts With the Leader
Inevitably, a team member will underperform or fail at a given task or project. Holding that team member accountable for improvement is what leaders are required to do. But before they hold others accountable, the best leaders spend the time to discern exactly why failure occurred in the first place. The answer is often more…
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Ask a Better Question
Asking great questions is a skill in short supply, even among some very good leaders. The benefits of great questions go beyond expanding knowledge and gaining insight. Well-constructed questions can build trust and rapport with others and guide them to, rather than tell them, what they are missing. Of the many tools of leadership, great…
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Leaders Don’t Tell Jokes
There’s a difference between a joke and a humorous story. Jokes make fun of people and events. They get retold because the surprise they contain usually confirms a bias or hidden truth. But invariably, someone on the receiving end of the joke doesn’t hold the bias or see the truth. To make matters worse, they…
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Keep Your Eye on the Reverse Gap
Looking backward at the reverse gap proves the power of the journey and injects a sense of optimism for the future. The personal satisfaction of acknowledging how much change has already occurred creates a unique feeling of gratitude for everything and everyone that has contributed to the positive transformation. That’s why those who have an…
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Promote Yourself Without Promoting Yourself
Those who are proud of their work and want their leaders to know, without coming across as self-promotional, simply feed their leaders with the updates and information they desire. Leaders always have an appetite to learn about those four topics. Avoiding taking credit or referring to yourself directly is the key. Learn to promote yourself…