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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People Anticipate a Negative Response in New Conversations
People are social creatures who are made happier and healthier by human connection. Yet, every day, people bypass scores of opportunities to connect. Research suggests they incorrectly predict that interacting with those they don’t know well will be awkward, uncomfortable, or unwelcome. So, they avoid making connections that would make their lives more satisfying. The…
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Making It Easier for People to Ask for Help
In far too many organizations and teams, asking for help is viewed as a weakness rather than a smart move. When seeking assistance becomes a sign of incompetence, team members hide their struggles and work independently without making the progress they could. Over time, this breeds stress, burnout, overwhelm, and isolation on the team. Performance…
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Staying on Message When Confronted by Tough Questions
Staying on Message When Confronted by Tough Questions
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Why the Questions You Ask Yourself May Matter the Most
Most leadership mistakes don’t result from a lack of intelligence or experience. They occur because of unexamined assumptions, unrecognized fears, unchallenged self-interest, or unbridled enthusiasm. While seeking outside perspectives can help leaders understand what they may be overlooking, looking inward is also an essential part of the discovery process. Asking hard, self-directed questions is how…
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Game Selection Is the Strategy Before the Strategy
After consolidating the nomadic tribes of the Mongolian steppe, Genghis Khan founded an empire that would span nearly 12 million square miles, waging roughly 70 battles across 20 campaigns along the way. He won all of them. Historians broadly attribute his unparalleled military success to Khan’s focus on extreme mobility, ruthless psychological warfare, and a…
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Why Do Team Members Stay?
People remain committed and stay in an organization for a host of reasons, but “employee engagement” is no longer a reliable predictor of which ones will. A recent study of 3,000 workers, managers, and hourly team members across the U.S. and Canada revealed that job satisfaction no longer predicts retention very well. While a vast…
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Fredkin’s Paradox of Similar Options
The more similar and equally attractive two alternatives are, the harder it is to choose between them. This is especially true when the outcome or consequence of the choice is insignificant. So, if a leader is choosing between two laptops and both seem great and largely alike, they will spend an inordinate amount of time…
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Creating a Team Glossary of Core Concepts
Teams depend on core concepts to collaborate, game plan, and work together. These concepts create the shared understanding that teams need to get things done. Concepts like “strategy,” “talent,” “transparency,” “potential,” “accountability,” “team,” “teamwork,” and “urgency” get tossed around from person to person with the idea that everyone agrees as to what they mean. That…
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The Uncomfortable Reason Personality Assessments Are So Popular in Leadership Development
Warning: This Field Note will make some people very uncomfortable. Leader discretion is advised. People are naturally curious about who they are and why they do what they do. So, they invest time and energy into learning more about themselves. Tools, like personality assessments — which offer a quick window into deeper understanding — feed…
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Fast Versus Timely
Not every decision, action, or execution needs to happen immediately. While speed occasionally produces better outcomes, there are many times when it destroys value. Acting too quickly can create costly mistakes, force rework, or trigger unintended consequences. But because leaders commonly equate speed with advantage, they default to moving quickly. Before every decision or action, good leaders consider…