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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The Challenge for Aging Leaders and Thinkers
The Challenge for Aging Leaders and Thinkers. Through discipline, rigorous routines, collaborations, and steadfast persistence, productivity can be as strong in the later years as it was in the early years. The key is to maintain a focus on how many opportunities and challenges they pursue. If the shots on goal don’t decrease, neither will…
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Tackling What Is Most Urgent First
When the tasks and assignments pile up, leaders can become overwhelmed. A multitude of things to do can paralyze even the most productive leaders. When the problems and tasks are so plentiful that leaders don’t know where to start, they often shut down and pretend they just need a little room to breathe before starting.…
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Breaking the Ice
Getting team members to engage openly and freely right out of the gate is a challenge. On a day full of discussions, beginning the first conversation is always hard, especially when there has been considerable time since the last team meeting. Activities that break the ice, as the metaphor suggests, warm team members up and promote
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The Importance of Execution Technique
All superior performance depends on sound execution technique. Not surprisingly, top performers spend more time practicing their execution technique than do others. These fundamentals are made up of details that are generally well-known, certainly by those who have studied or mastered high performance. The key is to recognize that every endeavor is comprised of details…
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Tom Brady and the Act of Signing Autographs for Teammates
Making others look special or influential in the eyes of those they care about creates a connection between leaders and teammates that can’t be easily broken. While no one would explicitly ask to be made to look special or influential, when leaders elevate the specialness of team members or colleagues in the eyes of others,…
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Your True Priorities Are Reflected by How You Spend Time
The best leaders maintain the discipline to put matters into perspective and commit to the time their highest priorities require. They create a distinct order of what matters most to them and spend their time accordingly. They don’t shirk their responsibilities to colleagues, but insist on reserving the time necessary to achieve their ultimate focus…
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Holding Up the Minor Voice
One commitment team leaders and facilitators must have when running meetings is to hold up the minor voice. Translated, this means to make sure everyone is heard and contributes to the discussion. This includes those who are reticent, inexperienced, introverted, or fearful of interjecting their views. Decision quality depends on everyone’s view. Making sure all opinions
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The Question to Pose After Painful Leadership
Bad things happen to good leaders. Throughout the course of a career and life, matters unfold in unpredictable ways, often causing pain or upset. Such episodes create regret, remorse, or the strong desire for a “do-over.” Unfortunately, there are no do-overs, only resolve to not make the same mistake or react in the same way
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Gauging the Conviction of Those Who Advocate
Not all advocacy is grounded in full belief. On many occasions, team members, salespeople, and colleagues propose something they only partially believe in. In other cases, they advocate before they are fully prepared to do so. This doesn’t stop them from making a strong case for their position or proposal. However, given that leaders trust others
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The Availability Heuristic and the Power of Review
The Availability Heuristic is one of the mental shortcuts leaders use to make choices easier and faster. Like other heuristics, leaders use them as rule-of-thumb guides to make their lives more efficient. Unfortunately, what makes things easier is not always best. The Availability Heuristic suggests that decision-makers draw most on information from recent memory. Because