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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Have You Ever Met Someone Who Is Very Funny and Isn’t Smart?
Not every smart person is funny or witty. Some brilliant people are deadly serious and have subtle dry humor, if they have any at all. But truly funny and witty people share a common quality. It takes real brainpower to be exceptionally funny. Funny people are smart.
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Asking Team Members to Carry on the Legacy
Sharing the history of a company, school, or enterprise with current team members deepens understanding and connects the past to the present and future. But in the hands of a skilled leader, that history can be a gold mine of motivation and pride. Team members crave a sense of permanence, prideful identity, and belonging. Leaders who
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Leaders Who Can’t One Day See Themselves Working for Any of Their Team Members
Leaders Who Can’t One Day See Themselves Working for Any of Their Team Members. Leadership on a team and the talent a leader attracts go hand-in-hand. Highly talented team members seek to work under the guidance of an experienced, confident, and strategic leader who puts the team above their own self-interests.
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The Problem of Celebrating Short-Term Milestones
Common advice for contemporary leaders is to learn how to celebrate before the project or initiative comes to a favorable conclusion. Celebrating short-term milestones and wins provides immediate motivation, boosts morale, and helps to sustain momentum during longer, challenging projects.
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In Search of Excellence
Excellence is a standard many people aspire to but can’t achieve. It’s not because they lack the will or skill to accomplish great things. It’s more about what discipline and learning it takes to reach the highest standard and sustain it. The foundation for the highest competence in any role or skill is aptitude, knowledge,…
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The Foundational Importance of Executive Functioning
Executive Functioning refers to higher-level cognitive skills that allow people to manage their thoughts, actions, and emotions to achieve goals. Not surprisingly, those with strong Executive Functioning are better able to adapt to new situations and solve problems they have never encountered before.
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Great Leaders Don’t Just Select Talent, They Ensemble It
Some leaders are great judges of talent. Using their deep experience and a well-developed template of salient qualities, they focus on attributes others miss or overlook. Through questions, observations, and secret tests, they spot extraordinary potential before anyone else does, sometimes even before the performers themselves. Their track record for selecting outstanding performers is plainly…
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How Flat Should Your Organization Be?
Organizations of every kind get things done by assigning specific roles and responsibilities to specific people. In order to ensure that team members know what is expected of them and are held accountable for results, organizations create layers of hierarchy.
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Why Some People are Clutch
When we think of a clutch performance, we often imagine a sports setting where an athlete shows up well under extreme pressure. But clutch performance isn’t reserved for sports. It occurs in organizations and teams as well.
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Team Members Who See their Role as Just a Job
Team members who view their work and role as a job operate very differently from those who see their current position as a stepping stone in a career. Career-minded team members invest more emotional energy in their work, develop their skills more aggressively, engage with work and colleagues more actively, and take more pride in…