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 Pain of Discipline or the Pain of Regret
The key to enhancing discipline is to engage in honest self-review. Leaders must objectively call out where they lack important self-control and how they might find it. Knowing where in your leadership life your personal discipline is lacking is a great place to start. What can you do to create the willpower to set higher…
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In a New Role, Achieve Clarity With a DON’T DO List
The Don’t Do list creates a clarity of role that can’t be achieved by the Do list alone. Thankfully, leaders can explore both question sets and avenues to identify how others see the task ahead and to define expectations more precisely. The next time you take on a new role or assignment, consider asking the…
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The Teaching Power of a Double Demonstration
By definition, high performance is a demonstration of skill. When a more experienced leader is willing to humbly compare and contrast their skill to those of others, they show them a path forward that otherwise remains hidden from view. Exposing the assumptions, choices, and strategies of high performance is a lens into learning like none…
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How Self-Aware are You?
Being self-aware changes how a leader learns, navigates the world, and influences how they behave. The more self-aware a leader is, the more likely they can adjust their behavior and thinking to fit a situation. If there were only one quality from which to predict lifetime success, self-awareness would have to be on the shortlist.
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Thinkers and Doers
On every team, there are thinkers and doers. Thinkers like to contemplate problems and issues and devise strategies to address them. While thinkers are not without initiative or action, they prefer thought partners over accountability buddies. They take steps cautiously and deliberately. Doers, on the other hand, like to get things done. They don’t bypass…
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Thinking in Bets
The best decision-makers identify their key beliefs and give them a probability of certainty. They then explore the underlying reasons and assumptions they depend on to make such a guess. That is what it means to think in bets. Are you 50 percent likely to begin assigning probabilities to your critical beliefs when making a…
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Everything You Own Owns a Piece of You, Too
Everything You Own Owns a Piece of You, Too. This is true for taking on a new leadership role, as well. When we agree to the responsibilities and commitments required in an elevated position, we invariably “own” the role as if it were a tangible thing. Owning a role is quite common for those who…
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Delay During Performance Allows Negative Pressure to Build
Delay During Performance Allows Negative Pressure to Build. So, the next time you experience a delay that interrupts performance, consider the power of distraction to avoid the negative effects of pressure. As pressure builds during a delay, finding a release through distraction is a much better strategy than overthinking what is to come. Thinking about…
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It’s Time to Discard the Sandwich Technique for Giving Feedback
Sometimes, bad advice won’t die. Take the case of the Sandwich Technique of giving feedback. It is an ineffective method that has traveled around the world. Seemingly every leader knows it. We can summarize the Sandwich Method like this: When giving feedback, leaders start by saying something positive. Then, they give the receiver the real…
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Expertly Introducing a Speaker
Expertly Introducing a Speaker Good introducers don’t get cute, tell embarrassing stories about the presenter, or do anything that will detract from the presentation. Instead, they ask themselves what information they might share that will make the speaker more believable and their remarks more valuable. Priming an audience to learn and appreciate what a speaker…