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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Bonding Through a Common Life Experience
Bonding Through a Common Basketball Experience
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Empowerment Isn’t All-or-Nothing
Empowering others occurs along a continuum of control. The best leaders cede the most control they can as often as they can.
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Less Forceful Ways of Expressing Disagreement
Good leaders frequently disagree with the opinions, recommendations, and ideas proposed by team members. Getting to the best answer requires the back-and-forth of disagreement and agreement as leaders and team members unpack the relevant issues and ideas. For leaders to be effective, they can’t hold back. They must express their candid disagreement to move matters…
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What Leaders Do That Demotivates Talented Team Members
Before thinking about how to motivate your team members, it is wise to first consider the ways you might be demotivating them. Interestingly, while what motivates people is highly personal and can be very different from person to person, what demotivates them is generally consistent, especially for top performers. Let’s review what leaders often find out the hard way. Beyond…
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Physically Reducing Your Status in a Room
Physically Reducing Your Status in a Room
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Stop Calling it Feedback
Social power changes the words we use and the reactions they create. The use of the word “feedback” is a prime example. When we call a message “feedback,” we do so because it comes from a place of power, status, or authority. What is implied in the word is that the feedback giver has the experience,…
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Burn the Boats
When explorer Hernán Cortés landed in Mexico in 1519, during the expedition that led to the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, he needed to prevent his men from abandoning the mission. So, he burned the ships they arrived on (historians claim they were actually sunk, but let’s not quibble to preserve the image).
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Overcoming the Challenges of a Rapidly Expanding Team
Rapid team expansion can be highly energizing, but it is also one of the riskiest phases for team culture, communication, and execution. Bringing on a boatload of new team members can create quite a time crunch for experienced team members and stretch the organization’s ability to coordinate new colleague activity. Because of the distractions that…
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Even in the Workplace, Successful Advocacy Sometimes Requires a Crowd
You’ve made your case, advocated for a change with those above you, but have failed to sway their decision. They remain reluctant to make the changes you believe are necessary for the team or organization to succeed. You had hoped that keeping the pressure on and advocating multiple times might eventually weaken their resolve. But…
