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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Vividly Describe the Ideal Candidate
Comparing prospective candidates against a vivid description of the ideal candidate exponentially increases the odds of finding the best person for the role. Without painting the full picture of who a leader is looking for, it is nearly impossible to know who would fit best. Always overlay the ideal description on top of the candidate…
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When You Lose Passion for the Work
After giving a role everything you’ve got for a lengthy time, passion for the work can sometimes wane. It’s not that you’re burnt out or endlessly tired, it’s just that the enthusiasm you had for the work has diminished to the point where you have noticed it. You don’t look forward to engaging with others…
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What If Character Were a Skill You Could Develop?
When we think of character, we normally think of enduring qualities of virtue. Noble traits like compassion, integrity, and courage come to mind, as do leadership qualities like loyalty, optimism, and curiosity. Common wisdom convinces us that cultivating a strong character is a pathway to a meaningful and productive life. So, the idea of character…
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A Leader’s Relationship With Decisions
Teams always know exactly how committed their leader is to a decision.
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What Is Team Chemistry, Anyway?
The next time you experience or observe chemistry between people, watch how different the interaction is. It flows, as if it is lubricated by some unknown spirit. The underlying accent of the conversation is chemistry in action. Or perhaps it is chemistry itself.
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300 Passes
When NBA coach Steve Kerr took the helm as the basketball coach of the Golden State Warriors in 2014, he inherited a highly talented but hugely underperforming team. Because Kerr believed deeply in analytics, his first strategic task as coach was to sit down with the team’s metric guru, Sammy Gelfand, to review the strengths…
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The Confidence of Stretching Others
It is common for leaders not to express their true judgments about the talents and skills of those they lead. They don’t hold back as much as they lack the ideal forum through which to express the confidence and trust they have in others. Stretch assignments and the conversations to explore them offer the perfect…
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The Sneaky Way Productive Leaders Procrastinate
By very definition, productive leaders get things done. They relish ticking off the priorities on their to-do list. One task at a time, they accomplish an amazing amount of work in a day. The satisfaction that comes from being productive is a narcotic that keeps the train of productivity rolling. Of course, not all tasks…
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Leaders Who Succeed Wake Up and Run
Making a different choice is all about commitment. When leaders are excited to get things done, they find the power and energy to start fast and keep the wheels turning. The more they lose themselves in something bigger than themselves, the more energy they find. As Benjamin Franklin liked to say, “Energy and persistence conquer…
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Treat Your Leader as a Coach
If treated like a coach, your leader will likely become a quality source of learning and perspicacity. More importantly, engaging your leader as a coach will create an ongoing dialogue about how both parties view high performance and the critical ingredients that foster it. As with all great coaching relationships, mutual influence is what keeps…