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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Recognize the Team or the Individual Contributors?
When teams perform above and beyond expectations, good leaders make a big deal of it. Recognizing excellence publicly is both highly rewarding and encourages team members to replicate their success in the future. At the same time, highlighting the great work of key team members with public praise can also be uplifting. Singling out important contributors
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First Take Something Positive Away
Focusing exclusively on what went wrong, as opposed to what went right, seems logical. But it imprints negative thoughts and impressions that will linger until the next performance. As one writer puts it, “If you knew how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought.” By taking away the positive first, leaders…
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Teams Learn to Ignore Leaders Who Chase Fads
Breaking a faddish leader of this pattern is no easy task. Doing so requires a team to quickly create a strategy and plan to execute on a given idea. Creating a detailed plan for implementation before the leader jumps to another idea is a big step forward. When presented with a program for executing on…
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Investing in What Matters to People
Few parents hold anything more valuable than their children and their educational futures. By creating a host of programs that invest in the children of those who work for the company, the leadership team at FJ Management tells their employees how much they — and their children — matter. Team members who work at the…
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The Norm of Who Gets to Advocate in Team Discussions
Norm: Anyone with expertise or a strong viewpoint who wants to be heard on a topic will be given the floor and allowed to articulate their views without interruption or disagreement. Norms bring order, consistency, and comfort to the interaction between team members. Of the many features of highly effective teams, norms about who can…
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The Best Reference Anyone Can Receive or Give
Asking leaders or colleagues to endorse or recommend our skills and talents to others follows a specific decision tree.
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When Decisions Aren’t Reversible
Jeff Bezos has gotten more than a few things right leading Amazon. One of the more insightful distinctions Bezos made in the early days at the company was to distinguish between decisions that were reversible and those that were not. He wisely promoted different decision-making processes for the two distinct camps of decisions. One-way decisions
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Listening for What Doesn’t Get Said
Listening for the unspoken is not something that gets taught in business school, nor is it a common practice by even experienced leaders. Yet, the best leaders all watch and listen for it. They set a baseline and then acutely observe what doesn’t happen or doesn’t get said that normally does. The speed in which…
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Pride of Craft is Unequaled Pride
Founded in 1928 by Trafton Cole and Eddie Haan, the shoes made by Cole Haan remain a stable of success in the footwear business. But the company didn’t survive for nearly a century without innovating. When its sales dipped dangerously low in the 1990s, the company reinvented its business by embracing contemporary styles and digital
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The Sacrifice Every Great Leader Makes
Nothing great comes without costs. To become a truly effective leader, you must be willing to pay the price of leadership success. This means a willingness to sacrifice your own needs for the good of others. Leaders make many sacrifices for those they lead. Chief among them is caring about the well-being of others when