Walking into a meeting, my head is caught in a web of worries – we missed our sales target, I’m disappointed with the lead generation, and several projects are running behind. My irritation flares as the agenda items feel irrelevant to my immediate concerns, and soon, the meeting descends into unproductive conflict. On a different…
You’ve got too much to do and not enough time to do it in. As a result, you’re scanning your inbox, firing off decisions, jumping from one meeting to the next. It feels productive, like you’re getting things done. But at the end of the day, you’re spent—and somehow, your inbox has more emails than it did…
When you have a diverse team of people with different skills and abilities who are all accomplished in their chosen fields, they will likely see the world differently. (This is a feature, not a bug!) Imagine asking your sales leader, head of production, and controller to review your company’s financial statements. Will they agree on…
At the beginning of this year, I decided to stop complaining. I noticed that I tended to complain about things I didn’t feel I had the agency to do anything about. Whether it was the daily news, long-standing intractable habits of my family members, or business dilemmas that didn’t go how I wanted them to,…
When I was given the chance to lead in a corporate setting, I (quite naturally) copied the leadership models I saw around me. Some leaders delivered results with a lot of top-down “command and control” behavior. Others would try to serve their team by being the hero, swooping in to save the day whenever there…
Our CEO led an all-hands meeting of a company we had just acquired. In that meeting, he did two things. As the new leader of this team, I wasn’t sure how to follow his story! I obviously couldn’t strike a grave, “I’m the new sheriff in town” tone. Nor did I have a ready madcap…
Who I’m being is more important than what I’m doing. I can do all the right things. I can make budgets and forecasts and track my pipeline and closing ratios, but that might not create more certainty in my finances. I can map out my customer touchpoints, develop relevant case studies, and create compelling content, but still not…
I keep finding that the world isn’t as I want it to be. Do you have that experience? Sometimes, that discovery results in frustration. For example, a team member blows off a deadline because they “weren’t feeling it.” Other times, it results in rage. When I’m in the 3rd hour of my conversation with my…
As you sit down to plan your day, you have some choices to make… You can spend your time on “sure things,” tasks you know how to do and are confident you can complete today. That feels good (I got something done), but you have no leverage on that time. You do one hour’s work;…
In 2024, about half the world voted in national elections. Across all those elections, almost every incumbent party facing election lost vote share; among democracies, over 80% saw the incumbent party lose support compared to the previous election. While there are many reasons for this, it’s undeniable that we’re in a challenging leadership environment. Our…