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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Look for Passionate Advocates When Consensus Is Impossible
When consensus is negated, identifying two or more passionate advocates lights the pathway forward. With anything less than a core group of zealots in favor of the decision, good leaders should share the discomfort of those against the decision and keep the issue on the table until a different solution or choice presents itself. Without…
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Promoting Intrinsic Motivation
When motivated from the inside, without rewards dangling in front of them, team members expand their potential by working harder and smarter. Task enjoyment and skill enhancement are two important ways to encourage self-motivation. People are born with intrinsic motivation. The best leaders just remind them how to rediscover that inner drive.
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Leaders Who Pretend to Agree
Leaders who only pretend to agree to team decisions are not to be trusted to lead. Their desire to impose their personal views on a finalized decision suggests they think they know better than the wisdom of the team. Such arrogance and action shatter the alignment so necessary for organizational success.
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Leaders Who Overshare
In the workplace, too much information can be as dangerous as too little. Team members want to be included and privy to what is going on. They relish fast-breaking news and value understanding how the leader sees and makes judgments about the team, the future, and the work at hand. In the name of transparency and vulnerability,…
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Save Your Hardest Questions for Recruits
Finding and selecting talent takes an enormous amount of time. Sifting through prospective candidates, narrowing the list to finalists, and then interviewing to find the best match is arduous work. The significant time spent with the candidates that aren’t hired or selected is a huge waste of time. Unless you decide to make this time…
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The Right Leader for the Right Challenge
We often think that a leader who wasn’t promoted or selected for the next role must be missing something critical. If they are the best athlete, then the decision to elevate them should be obvious. When that doesn’t happen, we presume there is something we don’t know or can’t see that must be getting in…
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When You Report to an Idiot
Some leaders are completely clueless. They are generally unaware of everything important and compound their ignorance by making bad decisions that you have to execute. If you report to an idiot, organizational life can be a very painful experience. Deciding to find another team or place to ply your craft is not an unreasonable call.…
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Lower Your Voice to Get Heard
Common wisdom tells leaders that if they want everyone’s attention or to make their advocacy land with force, they must increase their speaking volume. Multiple people in a room or a meeting turn their attention to the loudest voice and often stop talking themselves when one voice dominates. The intensity of the language the leader employs,…
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The Easy Way to Do It
Bill Gates prefers to choose a lazy person to do a hard job because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it. There’s wisdom in that idea, even though Gates says it to make a point about efficiency in thinking and not about rewarding lazy people. The hardest way is rarely the best…
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Bad News Comes From You First
Sometimes bad things happen. News that’s not ideal has to be shared quickly with those who have to make repairs or may be impacted by the fallout. Among those who need to hear the news posthaste is your leader. Leaders hate to be surprised by bad news. The good ones would rather hear about what…