A while back I heard Carly Fiorina differentiate managing from leading by saying, “Managers produce results within existing constraints and conditions. Leaders change or challenge existing constraints or conditions.” As I closed the last post that worked through a practical approach...
I got us started down this path last time by stressing that someone in every organization needs to take responsibility for charting the course. I also emphasized that while it typically needs to be the business owner or CEO who casts the primary vision, they absolutely need to be able to count on...
In chapter four of The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, The Law of Navigation, John Maxwell tells us that “anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to chart the course.” When Cindy and I originally developed Building Buy-in Around a Clear Mission and Vision for our Executive...
When we’re intentional about delegation and openness, especially in a way that truly develops the strengths of each team member we lead, we’re well on our way to providing them with the answers they’re already asking to three very important questions. Without answering these...
Two of the most important team leadership skills we need to create an atmosphere the people can be excited to be part of and actively engage in our organizational objectives are communication and emotional intelligence - but it doesn’t stop there! According to the Harvard Business School...
We couldn’t argue the impact communication has as a team leadership skill if we really wanted to, but we’d need to be OK with being wrong! Since everyone I know who takes their leadership responsibilities serious doesn’t have time for such stuff, let’s push forward to what...
To this point, we’ve dug into HOW teamwork really can make the dream work in our organizations and we looked at a few core competencies we’ll need to develop for effective team leadership. Now it’s time we really hash out exactly what skills we need to apply on a daily basis if...
Before we turn the corner and begin working through some skills we can each hone to lead our teams more effectively, and in turn yield higher engagement and stronger profit margins, let’s circle back to where I left off last time after my time on the ole soap box about being countable...
In The 17 Indispensable Laws of Teamwork, John Maxwell coined the idea of “countability” in chapter 9. He explains the Law of Countability by saying that “Teammates must be able to count on each other when it counts!” And if we ever want to be known as a bridge builder,...
I closed last time with a less than stellar example of how influence, good or bad, can impact the overall direction of a team. And in that particular scenario I detailed, the person who had the influence and did more than his share of steering the ship carried no positional authority at all. If...
If we were having this conversation face to face, I’m guessing you’d reply to what I shared last time by saying something like, “Alright Wes, if everything really does rise and fall on leadership, but you’re telling me it requires more than the carrot and stick status-quo,...
OK, so maybe teamwork can make the dream work with regards to helping drive profitability in our organizations… And maybe employee engagement and teamwork are directly correlated with one another… But how do these fairly fluffy ideas become reality and who’s responsible for...
