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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Character Is Revealed in Success, Not Just Failure
It is a well-known view that when things get tough, people reveal themselves. Failure can be a profound teacher, forcing people to confront their mistakes and take responsibility for them. Or not. Some people rise to the occasion when failure raises its ugly head, refusing to give up and instead displaying resilience and determination. Conversely,…
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How Do People Know If a Leader Is Sincere?
Authenticity gets all the press, but for leaders, sincerity matters more. Team members and colleagues respond differently to a leader who is sincere and expresses their genuine feelings and views without pretense. Even when they disagree, they come to trust a sincere leader who is heartfelt about what they say and do. Sincere leaders operate
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How Much Fruit Is on Your Coaching Tree?
Charting out the leaders you have developed and learning where they are now can be an illuminating exercise. Visualizing the impact you have had on others can reinforce the importance of developing others. It can even underscore why you do this work in the first place. A leader’s true legacy is in the relationships they…
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The Friction Between Centralized and Decentralized Decision-Making
The tension between making decisions on the ground or in the field as opposed to by a centralized source is a healthy one. Giving those leaders or producers closest to the issues and problems the ability to make decisions that affect them results in more practical and timely solutions. When field leaders feel empowered, they…
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When Performing, Never Tell Yourself What Not to Do
It may seem like a small or trivial matter to some, but the kind of instructions you give yourself during moments of key performance can profoundly impact what transpires. Anytime a performer plants the idea of what not to do in the mind, the brain has a funny way of punishing the thought. Whatever we…
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In Defense of Being Wrong
People don’t like to be wrong. They like to fail even less. This is especially true with big mistakes and faulty predictions. So, after mistakes or failures, they naturally reflect upon what occurred in an attempt to understand what happened and why. But a funny thing happens on the way to drawing a conclusion. People…
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Making Decisions That Negatively Impact People You Care About
Perhaps the hardest task in leadership is making decisions that negatively impact people the leader cares about. Decisions are choices with consequences. By definition, deciding to follow a specific path forward eliminates other choices and pathways. This invariably means that some people will be negatively impacted by the choice. Good leaders make the call anyway.…
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The Productivity Secret of Quincy Jones
Legendary musician, composer, and producer Quincy Jones died last week at the age of 91. Few artists have been as commercially successful or prolific as Jones during his more than seven decades of musical influence. He won 28 Grammy Awards, a National Medal of Arts, and placed his fingerprints on music icons that included Frank…
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The Incompetence of Incompetence
Allowing an under-skilled team member to learn how others (not just the leader) view their performance and how those peers suggest developing those critical skills can promote a learning environment conducive to overcoming the effect.A change in self-assessment and skill may occur slowly, but raising the awareness of the team member is critical for future…
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After a Major Decision, the Speed to Execution Matters
In too many cases, leaders behave as if making the decision signals the finish line rather than the starting line. They conclude that the hard work has been completed, and all that is needed is for the decision to be announced and for the team to begin making preparations to act on it. But without…