Recovering Leader

Great Leadership Lessons from Five Recent Failures

From Lance Armstrong to the IRS, 2013 has so far been rich with lessons to be learned from leadership failures. We get at least as many ideas about good leadership from failures as we do from successes, so these five should be instructive: 1. Innovate First for a Greater Good The example: Pfizer, for devoting billions of dollars to develop... Read more →

Leading from the Rut: 7 Ways to Snap Out of Complacency

It’s not easy to admit you’ve become complacent, but it gets the best of us, so you’re in good company -- the good news: there are steps you can take. Read more →

6 Reasons We Hang on to Marginal People, and What to Do About it

Recognizing and addressing your pattern of holding on to a low-performing person helps your organization, and is the right thing to do. Read more →

Truth About Leader Development: People Can Change

The subjectivity of change bias and the three ingredients for sustainable change. In my line of work, I’m often asked whether people can TRULY change. The short answer is: yes. The longer answer is: yes and it takes three ingredients. Before we look at these key ingredients, it’s important you watch out for your own bias. Essentially, sad but true,... Read more →

Why a Leader's Emotional Impact Matters ... A Lot

“Why do I need to worry about my people’s feelings? Why don’t they automatically just FEEL like doing their best? They’re lucky they have a job! Am I there to coddle them?” These are bottom line beliefs and questions among my executive clients who tend to be more task / directive / deadline-driven. Some are thinking these things mainly when... Read more →

Reinvention and Fighting the Status Quo Fetish

Like those with power in war, politics, religion, and even charities and greater-good enterprises, business leaders share the strong human need to preserve things as they are … to tinker rather than transform. Building modestly on what is, jiggering with it, making small corrections—preserving the status quo no matter what, either deliberately or non-consciously, is the object of our desire.... Read more →

Revaluing Your Pack Mates

We humans are basically pack animals. We surround ourselves with many of the same faces day in and day out. Over time, that familiarity tends to limit our clarity and curiosity about our “pack mates.” We inadvertently discount their ideas and contributions, often in small ways that can really add up. It’s as much a problem for leaders as it... Read more →

Leadership and Letting Yourself off the Hook

“I know I need to …” indicates a well-meaning person who’s not yet ready to resolve an issue or problem. For example: "I know I tend to be the bottleneck in the process, and need to be more timely about my work." "I know I need to do more relationship-building in the organization." "I know I need to delegate more,... Read more →

Monday LeaderTip: Reaching Your True North

We all have the capacity to make the time we spend doing our work—or living, for that matter—more meaningful. Yet we limit ourselves by not really thinking about it, submerged as we are in the familiar routines of our daily lives. When we do think about it, we scapegoat our constraints or limitations for not changing the status quo. Consider... Read more →

7 Leadership Strengths Are Weaknesses When Taken Too Far

Consider a few of the typical strengths a leader may have: maybe they're a good delegator, a great relationship-builder, results-oriented, decisive, etc. Interestingly, our strengths become weaknesses when we overuse or misapply them to the situation. That's why I often hear my clients' colleagues say, "It's his strength, but also weakness at times..." So it's important to know which of... Read more →

Monday LeaderTip: Innovation’s Challenge

Innovation—in your own life, or as a leader of others—requires an open mind, creativity, capability, resolve, and courage. Many leaders get stuck in the status quo because it’s easier than tapping into these qualities in themselves or others. Beyond that, transformative change upsets our sense of normalcy, which can be uncomfortable. Yet you need not remain complacent. When you might... Read more →