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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Are You Ready for Victory?
Athletes and entertainers have created a myriad of expressions to celebrate victory in the moment. Fist pumps, flipping bats, pointing to the sky, leaping for joy, slapping a thigh, shaking hands in the air, sliding to a stop, running in a circle, chest bumps, heart-to-heart hugs, an idiomatic dance, shedding a shirt, making a muscle,…
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Do You Have a Plan B for That?
Surprises make us feel out of control. That’s true for any organization or team. Both leaders and their followers dread surprises. They know from experience that unexpected events create confusion, zap confidence, and leave everyone feeling exposed. That’s why the best leaders are always running contingency plans in their heads. They always have a Plan…
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The Medium Might Be the Problem
Sometimes, the message sent is not the message received. The multiple mediums and channels we use to communicate with others make it easy to miss or ignore important messages. In a big stack of emails, for example, it is commonplace to pass over a message and simply not see it. Or, at a glance, presume…
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Stoke a Healthy Fear of Failure
A devotion to succeed is naturally linked to a fear of failure for most high performers. Ask most successful leaders and performers why they have persevered, and they will tell you that a healthy fear of failure has been a driving force and motivator behind their success. Conversely, when the fear of failure becomes too strong,…
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A Modern-Day Rorschach Test for Teams
Ever since Swiss psychologist, Hermann Rorschach, introduced his test using a series of inkblots to uncover patterns of thought disorder, the world has been even more fascinated with how people bring order and structure to randomness. The Rorschach test has become something of a cultural meme to explain how similar people bring a wide variety of interpretations…
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Slow Down When Under Pressure
People mirror their leader’s emotion, especially under duress. The normal pattern follows a chain of emotions. Calm produces calm. Panic produces panic. Fortunately, or unfortunately, teams naturally follow their leader’s example. Leaders who learn how to stay emotionally even in high-pressure moments do their teams a tremendous service. In the cool and collected climate created…
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Strong Opinions Held Weakly
Exceptional leaders embrace the expression, “Strong opinions held weakly.” It represents both a strength in advocacy and the wisdom to remain open-minded as new information and viewpoints become available. When operating from this vantage, leaders let their guard down and involve others in their search for truth. Even when they are highly convicted, the best…
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Use a Hierarchy of Emphasis
Raising concerns about issues and people with the appropriate emphasis is never easy, even for the best leaders. Unintentionally causing a five-alarm fire over a smoldering issue is never a good idea, nor is failing to warn others of impending doom. Of course, most concern falls somewhere between those endpoints. The question is how to…
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Give the Gift of People
Of the many gifts we give others to express our appreciation for all they do, perhaps none is more novel or impactful than giving the gift of people. People are the perfect gift from leaders. Gifts of people bring meaning, memory, and experience together in a way almost no other gift can rival. A weekend…
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How Can I Do Better?
Seeking feedback immediately after a performance is never easy for even the most seasoned leaders and performers. But you never know what people are thinking unless you ask them. Dodging this feedback by presuming others would tell you if there was something you needed to know means missing valuable information that could make you better.…