Recovering Leader

Transparency in Leadership (Part 1): Organizational Level

What happens when leaders fail to provide clear and honest information to each other, their employees, clients, and/or to the public? I'll give you a hint: significant career and brand damage. The ongoing drama of the Hewlett Packard board is an object lesson. Fears of further litigation may be the reason top-ranking HP executives, including the recently-resigned Chariman of the... Read more →

Monday’s LeaderTip: Being of Service

A leader's first responsibility is to the success of others. Yet ego, short-term greed, fear, and/or personal gain can get in the way. Make sure you are receptive to feedback, and develop practices that help you be of service to your clients / employees / community / investors. When you make it your mission to support their success, they will... Read more →

Developing Future Leaders

Assessing, developing, and rewarding leadership skills are a high priority among great organizations. Yet many enterprises lack programs and policies to develop their future leaders. Such expenditures of time and money are too easily labeled "optional," or "nice to have," particularly when budgets are tight. Without such programs, they promote their people to positions of management and leadership based on... Read more →

Leadership Brand and Signature

It's important both to consider and be deliberate about how you want to be known in your firm. When you don't leave it to chance, you are able to operate more effectively, communicate more clearly, and develop greater influence. Put simply, it helps you do your best work. Rather than focusing on where you fall short of others, or how... Read more →

Podcast: Uncertainty

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Monday’s LeaderTip: Opportunity in Uncertainty

Leaders who see uncertainty as an opportunity give themselves a leg up on the competition. Significant time and effort are often wasted by those who want to convince themselves or others they have The Answer. But "I know" or "I'm certain" closes the door to new insight and learning -- both so critical to dynamic organizations. "I don't know," conversely,... Read more →

The Recovered Leader: Ann Richards

Whether you are Democrat, Republican, or some other political stripe, you've gotta hand it to the dynamic leader Ann Richards, former two-term governor of Texas. Richards faced and recovered from her own alcoholism, and died sober last week, at age 73. In an "Appreciation" in yesterday's New York Times, Maura J. Casey wrote: "She didn’t hide it. “I like to... Read more →

A Leader's Ego

Ego-Meter... ----------------------------------------------------------------- Healthy: My ego separates me from you. Fear-based: What about me? Unchecked: It's all about me! ----------------------------------------------------------------- It's up to each leader to recognize the destructive impact of an unchecked ego. When their ego is dominant, s/he seeks to get their own way at the expense of others. Organizational priorities become confused and minor issues get blown out... Read more →

Leadership and Accountability In The News: The Hewlett-Packard Board

Damon Darlin, of the New York Times, published a story today entitled "Hewlett Packard Is Still Pondering Chairwoman's Fate," covering the evolving story about the secret, and allegedly unethically-conducted investigation of leaks by HP board members. Allegedly there was some sleazy sleuthing going on, as ordered by HP Board Chairwoman Patricia C. Dunn. Last week, the story was that Dunn... Read more →

Business Week Online Carries LeaderTips

Business Week Online is carrying another set of our "LeaderTips" last week and this week: The Spark of Leadership - September 11 Cutting Through the Clutter - September 8 A Trusted Advisor - September 7 Refresh Your Perspective - September 6 Read more →

Monday's LeaderTip: Being Blunt-Part 2: Avoidance/Sugar-Coating

Sometimes delivering criticism or bad news is a necessity. We do neither our people nor our organization any favors by trying to sugar-coat a direct message. The temptation to avoid conflict / people-please / be liked / or to manage the perceptions of others can change what must be said to what you think others can handle. That can be... Read more →

Leadership in Forgiveness

Forgiving is a simple and practical way to find new solutions to painful problems. Perhaps it's counterintuitive to talk about forgiveness in the context of leadership. In my experience, it's a powerful practice. Gnarly issues among people, organizations, and even nations--ones that interfere with effective teamwork and even peaceful coexistence--carry on over time in part because of an unwillingness to... Read more →

Leadership and Willingness to be on the Learning Edge

Here's something I see in my leadership coaching practice every day: willingness to know and work on self is key to leadership development. How satisfied are you with where you are today? How willing are you to develop yourself as a leader? Theories and systems of leadership are in abundance these days. The bookstore discount sale bins are brimming over... Read more →

Monday’s LeaderTip: Culture of Truth

Extraordinary results require an environment in which those you lead are rewarded for being exceptionally honest. Researcher/author Jim Collins (Good to Great) found such candor to be a priority at companies that sustain outstanding financial results. Take a hard look at the culture in your organization. Whatever values you espouse in principle, how frank are your people with each other—and... Read more →

Getting / Giving / Taking Credit for Success

Leaders are not concerned with taking personal credit for success. Others may grab credit to justify or reaffirm their necessity to their boss, co-workers, or those working for them. In extreme cases, credit hijackers operate from extreme insecurity, not letting a good thing happen around them without trying to squirm into a position to get some. When faced with flattery... Read more →

Failure to Probe

Asking others about themselves is a disappearing art. While some people are prone to "monologue" about their world, others would seem to prefer uncomfortable silence to taking the plunge and asking a question of a fellow human. In both situations, failure to ask others about themselves is rooted in any combination of the following: Simple old self-absorption / Ego Social... Read more →