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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How to Create More Buy-In
The best leaders refrain from giving people answers, decisions, or directions. They almost never tell people what they want them to do or why they should do it. Instead, they offer a view and ask others to get involved with a simple question: What do they want to do together? People get on board slow-moving…
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Impatience Can Be About People or Outcomes
Great leaders often fight an internal war against their own impatience. Results-oriented leaders are notoriously impatient. They want results faster, bigger, better, and long-lasting. That impatience leaks out when others don’t deliver outcomes as quickly as they should. When people sense the disappointment of impatient leaders or learn directly from them that their work is
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Achieving Outcome Independence During Performance
Examine the best performers in any field, sport, or endeavor and you will likely find someone who works hard to achieve outcome independence during performance. Yet, they typically don’t talk about it. Not because they fear giving up a secret, but because they know others aren’t ready to learn about it. It’s easier for the…
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Leaders, Not Teams, Squander Leads
Protecting a lead is the fastest way to lose one. This isn’t just true in sports. Companies and enterprises that have a huge advantage often get complacent. Instead of innovating and executing, they sit on their laurels and squander the lead. Leads make teams lazy, defensive, and unfocused. Teams are the most vulnerable when they
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People Often Express Content Conflict Relationally
The tendency for people to express content conflict through dissatisfaction about the relationship is so strong it should become a leader’s first conclusion when trying to understand why two colleagues have such distaste for each other. Helping the parties achieve more parity regarding their influence with others will usually take the temperature down and allow…
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People Often Express Relationship Conflict Through Content
People Often Express Relationship Conflict Through Content. The next time you encounter two people who are frequently at odds over minor points of contention, consider whether the conflict is really about the relationship qualities one or both parties are dissatisfied with. Maybe one of those people is you. Address what is really at issue, rather…
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Teaching People to Think Strategically
Thinking strategically is not impossible to teach when leaders deconstruct existing strategies and how they came to be. With this understanding as a foundation, less skilled strategists can make big strides forward. Leaders who follow this simple strategy for teaching strategy will be rewarded with a team member who can better see the future and…
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Asking for Advice From Others Who Don’t Expect It
In a strange way, the reluctance of leaders to ask others for advice and input can actually be an advantage. Most people don’t expect it. So, when it happens, asking others for their views can have a profound influence on the development of a relationship. People so enjoy it when leaders ask for their views,…
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The Upside of Boundless Energy
Not every leader is blessed with boundless energy, but all leaders can lead with more passion and enthusiasm. Any time a leader wants to convey importance to a project or assignment, they can choose to raise their own personal energy around the work. Good leaders find a way to infuse their leadership and the team…
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If I Truly Learned From All of My Mistakes, I Would Be a Genius by Now
Everyone makes mistakes. Some blunders are bigger than others, but all come dressed in a lesson or an important takeaway. The idea of viewing mistakes and failures as opportunities to grow and as springboards to propel future success is now a part of popular culture. Failing forward is what good leaders do. After so many missteps and