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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Grateful People Learn Differently
The most talented leaders in society tend to be highly grateful people. That connection is not a coincidence. Gratefulness influences how people relate to other people. Those who are deeply thankful for the good fortune in their lives engage other people with an eye toward learning from them. Grateful people are more open and willing…
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We Most Support Change That We Co-Create
When it comes to introducing a team or organizational change of consequence, the best leaders make sure to give team members the ability to help craft it.
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Rekindling a Relationship That Has Gone Cold
Unless you have a considerable history with a person, rekindling a relationship that has gone cold is no easy task.
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Act Brave to Be Brave
When former Senator John McCain was held in a Viet Nam prison camp he said that some days he had to act brave to be brave. Sometimes, it is not our view that produces our behavior. Rather, it is our behavior that creates the view we have of ourselves. When we act assertively, we become…
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What Is Your Favorite Emotion?
During an interview with the rapper 50 Cent, a journalist asked the hip hop performer why he was so prone to singing about violence. 50 Cent replied, “Because anger is my favorite emotion.” What an insightful, if somewhat disconcerting, response.
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Ignore Competitors When Setting Strategy
The job of strategy is to build the future. Everything else, including what competitors are doing, is a distraction.
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What Do You Value in Others?
There’s a subtle difference between what a leader values and what they value in others. When leaders emphasize what qualities are important in others, team members take notice. Whatever leaders value in others, team members produce more of it and value it as well. Most leaders, for example, naturally prize people who produce outcomes and…
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Why People Overpromise
Conventional wisdom suggests a leadership weakness is often a strength carried too far. This idea is in line with the popular viewpoint that, “Your greatest strength is also your greatest weakness.”
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Are Your Greatest Weaknesses Also Your Greatest Strengths?
Conventional wisdom suggests a leadership weakness is often a strength carried too far. This idea is in line with the popular viewpoint that, “Your greatest strength is also your greatest weakness.”
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Open Communication Upward Relies on a Balance of Power
The more leaders fight off status, the more candid those below will become. Great leaders don’t clutch at power and status, they distribute it to others so that honesty can spread its wings.