There's a well-known quote by E.M. Kelly that says, "Remember the difference between a boss and a leader. A boss says 'Go!' A leader says 'Let's go!'" In reality, this is a differentiation between two distinct leadership styles. The first is a commanding leader; the second is probably a servant leader or a transformational leader. […]
Creativity, Decision Making, Leadership, Learning Skills, Stress, Team Management, Uncategorized
Goals? Sure, I have them and I could more or less tell you what they are, but I didn't need to write them down like all those motivational speakers told me to do. Why? Like auditor Todd Weinman, I recoiled at the notion of being controlled – even when the "controller" is someone as likable […]
Career Skills, Communication, Decision Making, Leadership, Strategy
"We all need people who will give us feedback. That's how we improve." – Bill Gates, American business magnate. Feedback... There is something inherently awkward about the process of giving and receiving feedback. If done – and taken – in a negative vein, it can feel a lot like judging or being judged, and that never leaves us feeling […]
All Posts, Career Skills, Communication, Leadership, Problem Solving, Project Management, Team Management, Uncategorized
Imagine being forever immune to heart attacks and strokes because you take a daily dose of medication. Great! But there's a little hitch. The medication can be very sour and it takes 10 minutes to prepare. Would you take the medication or just hope that your heart is strong enough without it? This question is […]
Don't! I've been fixated on this word for a couple months now. It started when I wrote a blog about the self-promotion that is so necessary in this age when so many of us are small-time entrepreneurs and contract workers. Typical of what I read was, "Don't brag! You'll look like a jerk!" and, "Don't […]
If you want to explore different ways to develop your people's skills and improve their performance at work, you may consider coaching them. Whereas coaching is seen by some as a corrective tool for when things are "going wrong," with careful planning, it can be a positive technique that will help your coachees to focus […]
All Posts, Career Skills, Communication, Learning Skills, Team Management
Climbing the career ladder will lead you to become a boss, manager and, hopefully, into a leadership position. These terms are somewhat interchangeable but conjure different emotional reactions that I’ll bet we share. We’ve known leaders who act like the bossy know-it-alls that make us cringe. We’ve also known folks far from the top whose […]
Do you have to love what you do for a living to be happy at work? As an editor, I play with words all day and, right now, I can't think of anything else I'd rather do. I may not wake up and dread my working day now but, during my past roles, I […]
Communication, Leadership, Problem Solving, Stress, Team Management
Have you ever been in a team meeting at work and wanted the ground to swallow you up? What's your most cringe-worthy memory of a team meeting that didn't go very well for you? I have been witness to many an awkward moment in meetings, happily not always involving me directly. My awkward moment […]
Like many people, I’d viewed the idea of ‘servant leadership’ with a fair amount of skepticism. Not knowing much about it, I thought the term itself was a contradiction. How can someone be subservient and lead at the same time? So I was curious to hear what Sen Sendjaya had to say, when I interviewed […]
All Posts, Expert Interview, Leadership, Team Management, Uncategorized
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