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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The Need for Closure Can Lead to Faulty Decisions
Leaders can learn from seasoned athletic coaches when it comes to dealing with an abysmally poor initial performance. When teams get blown away and find themselves in a lopsided game, the best coaches take a pause (halftime) and reset the score to 0-0. They then encourage their team to fixate on winning the next phase…
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When You Find Yourself Far Behind, Reset the Clock
Leaders can learn from seasoned athletic coaches when it comes to dealing with an abysmally poor initial performance. When teams get blown away and find themselves in a lopsided game, the best coaches take a pause (halftime) and reset the score to 0-0. They then encourage their team to fixate on winning the next phase…
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Creating New Habits Requires a Daily Rhythm
Creating a new habit is never easy. It requires real discipline to adhere to a new routine. What isn’t obvious is how frequently the routine needs to be repeated before a habit is formed. New behaviors that don’t occur daily seldom become habits. The human brain is hard-wired to create new connections. When a behavior…
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What’s the Difference Between an A-Player and the B’s & C’s?
Leaders naturally discriminate between team members based on track record, reliability, and skill. Giving team members a letter grade to capture the difference between them is somewhat of a parlor game for leaders. They love to argue about how many A-players they have on the team and why others don’t make that grade. Every leader…
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Micro-Goals Get Projects and People Back on Track
When team members focus on the smallest steps, the larger objective not only seems more achievable, but progress toward it continues.The best leaders know that the smallest goal can sometimes be the largest motivation.
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How Leaders Unwittingly Create Entitlement
Leaders who care too much about the happiness of others and have a strong need to be liked by them often reward people indiscriminately. When they fail to tie their caring and rewards to measurable goals, a sense of entitlement is usually the result.
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People Who Complain Incessantly About a Problem Before Addressing It
Some people make themselves hard to work with. They don’t realize how painful it is for others to collaborate and engage with them on tasks and assignments. One reason is because of their need to complain before taking action.
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It’s Time to Conduct a Distraction Audit
Distraction is the enemy of productivity. The more distracted a person is during a project, task, or meeting, the less productive they are. Toggling back and forth between full engagement and distraction all day long creates a rollercoaster of attention deficit. Even small distractions cause people to take longer to finish tasks and degrade the…
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Leaders Who Make Fun of Themselves Build Trust and Comfort
Self-deprecation does more than display humility. Leaders who take jabs at themselves create more trust and connection with others. This is because self-deprecation disarms people and makes leaders more relatable and personable. People tend to trust leaders they find more likable.
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For Top Performers, Practicing Fundamentals Never Gets Old
The question every performer must ask themselves is: What are the fundamental drills and exercises I should commit to no matter how successful I become? The best performers don’t go back to basics for the simple reason that they never abandon them in the first place.