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.
Search Field Notes
-
The Spaghetti Sauce Question
This one can get tricky. Let’s say someone on your team has an embarrassing problem. Something that could detract from their credibility or acceptance by others. How should a leader approach the delicate feedback that is clearly needed? First, what do we mean by embarrassing? Extremely bad breath comes to mind. Repeated flatulence. Unusual scratching.
-
Thank People in Advance
Thanking people for being candid before they are candid is a wonderful way to create more honesty and frankness. Ben Franklin taught us that to thank people before they do something you desire is a sure-fire way to have them do that very thing. This is particularly true when it comes to getting candid feedback
-
The Bad Motive Behind Flawed Decisions
The fear of failure is a powerful motivator that drives many leaders to excel. Striving to always be prepared and not to let others down is a reputable quality everyone appreciates. But, sometimes, the fear of failure produces something else — a need in a leader to constantly prove themself. Making sure everyone knows you
-
You Can’t Keep a Good Leader Down
More than 75 years have passed since Henry Ford made the idea of leadership rather simple: “The question of who ought to be boss is like asking who ought to be the tenor in the quartet. Obviously, the person who can sing tenor.” After the fact — once a decision has been reached, when the
-
Don’t Let Mistakes Become Decisions
Mistakes are a part of life and they happen with great frequency no matter how experienced we are. The good news is that making mistakes is an essential part of learning and achievement. Once we make a mistake, we have the chance to course correct and do better on the next attempt. Sometimes, unwittingly, we
-
Accountability and Responsibility Defined
When disappointed by his inability to draft the players he wanted, legendary NFL coach Bill Parcells once commented: “If they want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for the groceries.” Like Parcells, none of us wants to be held accountable unless we control the process and ingredients critical
-
Winning is the Learning Multiplier
We’ve all heard and agree with the maxim, “It’s not the best team that wins but the team that plays the best.” But what about the interplay between happiness and performance? Briefly contemplate these two statements: • “A happy team is a winning team.” • “A winning team is a happy team.” Do you resonate
-
The Life Leaders Have Chosen
Success as a leader has multiple components. A good number are challenges rarely experienced by those who don’t lead. That’s part of why leadership is sometimes described as lonely enterprise — particularly when the leader is facilitating the goals and performance of others. Few people can relate or identify to exactly what a leader goes
-
Leave Out the Gristle
What a leader doesn’t say often speaks much more loudly than what they do say. This is especially true when it comes to giving people direct feedback. Leaving out the empty and negative comments that provide no utility is a sign of a leader who understands the power of saying more by saying less. Take
-
Perhaps You Need a New McGuffin
Thanks to the filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock, we know the recipe for many thrillers is something called a “McGuffin.” A McGuffin is an object or device that serves as a trigger for the plot. The McGuffin, often cloaked in mystique, is a motivating force for the storyline and the actors’ behavior. Objects like the Maltese Falcon,