Field Notes

A Daily Dispatch from the Front Lines of Leadership.

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 Hidden Challenge of a Highly Cohesive Team

Teams that are full of trust, comradery, shared values, and possess the ability to work together through challenges are the gold standard. Spending time on shared tasks in close proximity brings such teams even closer. These tight-knit teams possess the elusive quality of “chemistry” so critical to high performance and typically go beyond trust to generate a true caring for their teammates. The collaborative potential for such a team is unlimited. The only element that can get in their way is too much of a good thing. Even highly cohesive teams face one particular challenge. They must overcome the downside of being so connected. You read that right.

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Creating a Competition for Innovation

Promoting a culture of innovation is no easy matter. One problem is that creativity is not equally distributed among team members and bursts of insight don’t happen on schedule. Getting team members to innovate and think creatively is not something leaders can mandate. Even crafting processes to promote innovation inside organizations has been shown to be a bust. Innovation cannot be structured or directed by leaders. But that doesn’t mean leaders can’t encourage it.

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Leaders Who Treat Conversations as Debates

Leaders who prefer debate would be wise to mix it up more often and recognize the distaste they create through continual competitive exchanges. Debate is a valuable conversation when choosing between two options with strong advocates on both sides. The best leaders save this particular conversation for the moments when a forced choice is needed. As a default, they rely more heavily on discussions, dialogue, and discourse to get things done.

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Enter your email for instant access to our Admired Leadership Field Notes special guide: Fanness™—An Idea That Will Change the Way You Motivate and Inspire Others.

Inspiring others is among the highest callings of great leaders. But could there be anything you don’t know, you haven’t heard, about how to motivate and inspire?

Could there really be a universal principle that the best leaders follow? A framework that you could follow too?

There is.

Everyone who signs up for Admired Leadership Field Notes will get instant access to our special guide that describes a powerful idea we call Fanness™ (including a special 20-minute video that really brings this idea to life).

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