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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Leaders Who Unintentionally Intimidate Others
Because of their influence and status, leaders can intimidate others without meaning to. An intense focus on getting things right and getting things done can project an intimidating presence to those they lead. Good leaders don’t purposely want to intimidate people, but too often they accept the fact that they overwhelm others without trying to…
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How Leaders Can Elevate Dignity in the Workplace
It goes without saying that all team members have inherent worth and value. While respect and trust are earned over time through actions, dignity is innate and part of the human condition. Leaders don’t give people dignity. They honor it through their actions and treatment of others. Or fail to. At the core of all…
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Good Leaders Offer Perspectives More Than Opinions
In a world full of opinions, the best leaders recognize the superior value of a perspective. While both opinions and perspectives guide choices and decisions, there is a world of difference between them. An opinion represents a belief or judgment about a topic or issue that is grounded in feelings, emotions, and values. Opinions are fast…
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The Essential Strategy of Repurposing an Existing Product or Resource
Once an organization or team develops valuable products, content, or materials that have a robust shelf life, leaders should consider expanding their strategy to bring that value to others who would benefit from what already has been created. Before investing in the development of new offerings, savvy leaders do their best to get even more…
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Gauging the Productivity of Team Members Who Work Remotely
Despite most teams operating successfully in a hybrid workplace model, some leaders are still suspicious about the engagement and productivity of team members when they work remotely. While they experience and observe the benefits of remote work, they remain uncomfortable with how team members set their own boundaries for getting tasks and assignments done. These…
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The Peril of Overdependence
Leaders sometimes fall prey to a well-known danger they have been drilled to avoid. It’s easy to forget a trap when you haven’t stepped in it for a long time. One of those traps worth remembering is the danger of becoming overdependent on any one resource. Overdependency can be a BIG problem. Anyone who has “too…
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Don’t Allow Negative Life Challenges to Become a Part of Your Self-Identity
Leaders are everyday people and fall prey to the many personal challenges in life others face. They get divorced, they experience financial instability, they lose loved ones, they suffer from a chronic illness. Unlike normal challenges, these setbacks take place over a long period of time, sometimes taking months or years to recover from. During…
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The Incredible Speed of Unpleasant Situations
Good outcomes and the processes they require take time, patience, and determination. Learning new ideas, establishing new habits, building relationships, creating a high-performance team and the like don’t occur overnight. They take energy, time, and commitment. Bad things, on the other hand, happen quickly, often by surprise. They unfold and raise their ugly heads with…
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Recovering From a Bad Decision.
Leaders inevitably make some bad calls. Sandwiched between a host of quality decisions, leaders land on a decision they often regret later. Not only does this decision result in negative consequences, but it often is hard to unwind or revoke. Recovering from a bad decision requires a unique strategy. Before acknowledging the bad call, good…
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What To Do If You’re Layered in an Organization
Being “layered” in an organization means reporting to someone who now sits between you and the leader you used to report to. While this is universally interpreted negatively by those who have been layered, this new reporting line has some distinct advantages as well as drawbacks. The key is to understand why you were layered,…