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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Flag Intent
Much of the meaning we ascribe to others comes down to how we read their intentions. We judge what is happening and what significance it carries by assessing the intentions we believe others hold. Reading these intentions of others allows us to make quick sense of what they are saying and doing without the need
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The One Question for All Leaders
If your leadership came down to one question, what would that question be? As a leader, what is the most important question you could ask of anyone in your leadership world? A servant leader might ask, “How can I help?” A field general might ask, “What should I know?” A hands-on leader might ask, “Where
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Not Winging It Looks Like This
We can’t say that NFL rookie head coach Nick Sirianni will go down as one of the game’s greats. Heaven knows, football at the professional level is a unique challenge for coaches and players alike, and few survive the experience with accolades. But one thing we do know is that Sirianni never wings it when
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Get Better at Backcasting
After a poor decision, wise leaders gather the team and engage in a “postmortem,” a process of dissecting what went wrong. Specifically, what decisions contributed most to creating a bad result. This is a useful exercise that allows the leader and team to learn from their mistakes and correct them going forward. Airlines routinely do
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Seek to Deserve Success
Results-driven leaders are often consumed with achieving lasting personal success. The ultimate prize is to reach the lofty goal of financial independence and the ability to make an impact through meaningful work. However, the fixation on the outcome and not the process can prevent leaders from reaching their highest potential. They end up making choices
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Who Does Your Team Need You to Be?
Great team leadership is less about what you need the team to be and more about what the team needs you to be. Team leaders naturally want their teams to do what they need to in order to get things done; however, it’s what teams need from leaders that most affects team success. Team leaders who
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Jump the Leadership Learning Curve
The best leaders evolve to recognize a simple but important truth: We have influence with others proportional to the influence they have with us. When others feel they can influence you, they become much more open to your influence. When a leader finally understands this working principle, how they interact and engage with others begins
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Saying ‘No’ Requires a Strong ‘Yes’
Of the many abilities required to excel at leadership, perhaps none is more important than the ability to say, “No.” Our human desire to be liked and accepted often stunts our learning about this essential skill. Saying “no” requires us to become focused on what really matters. We should refuse to accept tasks from others
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Building Emotional Strength
Building strength in any area works in the same way. Consider muscular strength. Ask a bodybuilder and they will tell you it is after the exercise routine that they build new muscle. New muscle is created when the muscle fiber ruptures and the nerve fibers begin to register pain. Pushing yourself at that precise point
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The Problem of Solomon’s Paradox
King Solomon, as the story goes, offered wisdom and counsel so highly valued that leaders across the world would travel for days to hear his advice. His sage judgment was both profound and clairvoyant. However, as wise as he was with other people’s problems, he was equally unwise with his own. His personal life was