Insights: Leadership
The One Universal Rule of Time Management
Most leaders wish they had more time. In this post, I share the one piece of “universal” advice I most frequently give executives to help them better manage their time and boost their productivity. Are you ready? Spend a few minutes each day planning your day, and spend an hour each week planning your week. […]
The Art of Receiving Feedback
Recently I wrote about the importance of giving feedback to your direct reports and others—openly, candidly and in a way that’s actionable for them. I think 50% of the feedback equation rests on the side of managers, who have to be willing and skilled in giving it. Today I want to share a few tips […]
Saving Your Job
Sometimes I coach leaders who are afraid they are at risk of being fired. They may have good evidence to support this. For example, they may have just been transferred to a different department or moved to a more junior position; or they may have gotten direct feedback from their boss, HR, or others that […]
Feedback: A Recipe for Improvement
I doubt most leaders fully understand the incredible power of giving feedback, or the suffering that can result from withholding it. I’m talking about situations where a manager has important concerns about a direct report’s performance and doesn’t share them–or doesn’t share them well. Leaders worry that giving tough feedback will hurt motivation, damage relationships, […]
Habits of the Mind
We all know there are simple things we can do to have a more healthy body, like eat well, rest and exercise. But it only dawned on me recently that there is an equivalent sort of hygiene for the mind. Here are three powerful “habits of the mind” that I believe contribute powerfully to long-term […]
Increasing Speed in Leadership
I was recently asked a broad question about how to increase speed when leading projects with incredibly smart, opinionated colleagues. While each of the steps below may seem to be things that would slow you down, in the big picture they will help you speed up your results: Relationships. Having coffee or lunch with the […]
Strength during Stress
Most executives have some periods of intense, unrelenting stress. This can happen for example during a time the team is rapidly growing in numbers; during a mission-critical project where the stakes are very high; or during a time of crisis such as a major HR or legal issue. At such times it’s a good idea […]
Mindfulness and Leadership
I am sometimes asked by leaders what they can do to become less reactive, and to remember to practice the things they are working towards improving. For example, an executive at a pharmaceutical company recently complained that she felt like she knew what to do but that in the heat of the moment, when interacting […]
The Power of Matching
In his book To Sell Is Human, Dan Pink writes about the importance of attunement as part of selling, whether the selling is formal (actual sales) or less formal (influence and persuasion). One approach to attunement is matching. By subtly matching body language, tone of voice and choice of words, you can create greater attunement and more […]