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Vision and Action Venn

Daydream or Nightmare? Leading with Vision and Action in the C-Suite

“Vision without Action is a Daydream. Action without vision is a Nightmare.” It’s a simple, easy-to-understand concept. Yet how often do we discover that either one of these critical success components are missing? Leading any meaningful initiative needs both vision and action.

Too Hard

What’s “Too Hard” for You?

We all have our mental barriers. Our limiting beliefs that create the perception that certain tasks are too hard. As long as we harbor those beliefs, they will hold us back from pursuing goals with conviction.

Private Coaching Sign NZ

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

I don’t usually write posts that are overly personal or promotional.  But this seemed like an appropriate time to bend

Judgmental

How Judgmental Are You?

Being a judgmental leader is like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut – it’s destructive and totally unnecessary. Constant criticism and belittling from a leader create a pressure cooker environment that will eventually blow the lid off your team’s productivity and job satisfaction.

Not only that, but being overly judgmental can discourage your team from making decisions and taking initiative which can lead to a stagnant organization. Low morale, high turnover rates, and poor communication and teamwork are all signs of a toxic leadership style.

Failure Celebration

How Do You Reward Failure in Your Organization or Team?

What Kind of Question is This?
We can agree that it’s provocative. When is failure ever the goal? So why should we ever want to encourage or reward it? What might happen if you actually did reward failure?

Kevin W McCarthy

Meet the OTHER Kevin McCarthy

Had enough with the political leadership circus world? There’s a different Kevin McCarthy I’d like you to meet. He’s the author of several highly impactful books. Two of them I’ve read, recommended and gifted for years.

Be Grateful.

How to Spread Gratitude in Our Digital World

How Complimentary is YOUR Close? This is the part of a letter that immediately precedes the writer’s signature, consisting of words such as Sincerely, Cordially, Very truly yours, Best regards, etc. We’ve always done it that way.
I believe it’s OK to declare your sincerity or to close cordially. Writers have used those terms for over a century, When would it be time to explore more personalized alternatives? How about today?

Risk Averse Caution Sign

Your Post-Pandemic Hangover: Are You Now More Risk Averse?

How Could You NOT be more Risk Averse?
Citizens of the world have experienced relentless fear, uncertainty and doubt since the pandemic began in 2020. We rode in a seemly endless emotional roller coaster. After such a long and rough ride, it’s only human to affected by our experiences. Figuratively speaking, all of us are still experiencing after effects. I’m not qualified to offer a clinical assessment. So my civilian term is “Pandemic Hangover.” Unlike a binge hangover, emotional recovery from our Pandemic Hangover lasts much longer than a day or two.

Positivity

Are You Sabotaging Your Own Happiness?

I won’t bury the lead here. The answer is YES. We all sabotage our happiness to some degree. So the important questions are:

* How is this happening?
* How do I stop?

idiot

Do You Suffer Fools Gladly? What Would You Gain if You Did?

“Suffer Fools Gladly” – Saint Paul; 2 Corinthians, Chapter. 11

As with all theological scriptures, those three words can be subject to various interpretations. Rather than analyze St. Paul’s intentions of 2,000 years ago, let’s consider those three words in the context of leading others in today’s world.

Easier Said than Done: All leaders encounter people with thoughts and ideas we’re inclined to label as foolish. It’s hard to imagine being glad about it. Perhaps you have the authority to fire or relegate the fools in your midst. Or, contrary to the urging of St. Paul, you want to do so.

dysfunctional communication process

Effective Leadership Communication: How Accountable are You?

“Communication is a process, not an event.” – Seth Goden Do you treat communication as a process? Or an event? What’s the difference? Understanding how to develop a communication process approach to your communication is a potential game changer. That said, while the process may be simple, implementation is where most people struggle.

Steve Kerr

Steve Kerr’s Three Minutes of Leadership Perfection

Last Tuesday, May 24, 2022. Pro Basketball Coach Steve Kerr’s Golden State Warriors were preparing for their Western Conference Finals Playoff game in Dallas. Their playoff game was just hours after the school shooting just 400 miles away in Uvalde, TX.

Stop Excuses

What are Your Excuses? Could Your Attitude Sabotage Your Success as a Leader?

We’re in the mist of The Great Resignation. Employers are seeking creative new ways to retain and engage their talent. Some employers are handing out larger raises than in the past. Talent shortages are creating opportunities for leaders to step up.

How might you make the most of this opportunity?
How might you avoid shooting yourself in the foot?

20th Anniversary badge

Celebrating 20 Years in Business

Another Milestone In November of 2001, I launched my new consulting/practice.  I had first rate training and some proven tools

Thumb Down

Introducing Anti-Goals; What are the Advantages and Pitfalls?

As purveyor of effective goal planning for over two decades, I am more aware than most folks about how goal setting is used and misused. When I recently discovered the term “Anti-Goals”, my curiosity peaked. Is this backlash for pursing goals?

I’ve discovered and documented some really good reasons for people to sour on the idea of goal setting. Here are three examples of how and when using goal setting as a leadership tool can fail.

Pizza

Pizza or Broccoli: A Slam-Dunk or Curious Conundrum?

While our food favorites may vary, we all have them. And we tend to choose them more often than our less favorable choices. Our food decision making can provide clues to our workday decision making. Let’s take a closer look.

Workplace Empathy

Developing Empathy in a Polarized World

Most citizens of the world have experienced two of the most disruptive two years we can remember. The result is the proliferation of FUD: Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. In the presence of FUD, it’s all too easy to become self absorbed with our own challenges. And thereby easy to dismiss those of others.

self-perceptions

Extroverts Leading Introverts: Where are the Disconnects and Pitfalls?

On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your level of extroversion?
If you gave yourself an extrovert rating of 7 or higher…

* You are more likely than most to experience conflict when interacting with the more introverted people in your workplace
* To effectively lead these folks, you will be more effective by adapting your approach.

Hug

Avoiding Touchy-Feely

I once had a new coaching client begin our engagement with this intriguing request. “I don’t want this to get touchy-feely.”
On the surface, this is a potential challenge for a leadership coach. One of the most important aspects of a coach-client relationship is connection. Does connection require getting touchy-feely? It depends on what that term really means to the person making request. There are similarities between a coach’s role and a leader’s role. So let’s take a closer look at the possible rewards and consequences with a touchy-feely approach to communication. 

Integrity

How Preemptive are You? 7 Quick, Powerful Questions to Ask Yourself when Blindsided

We likely agree that integrity is a critical leadership trait. With your reputation on the line, I would argue that a leader’s integrity is so important that it needs to be defended whenever it’s threatened or challenged. As a leader, your integrity is judged on your ability to both make and keep your promises.

Lemons-cc

2020 – Turning Lemons into Lemonade

My 2020 Lemonade: I’m extremely fortunate. I would describe the year as an opportunistic adventure. My friends and family have stayed healthy and safe. I know I’m in the minority when I share that I’ve had a really great year. I’m aware of my fortuitous status. So I’m compelled to share my recipe for 2020 lemonade.

Zoom Meeting CC

Your Zoom Presence: Put Your Best Face Forward

While it may be true that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. The truth is that we not only judge books, we also judge people. It may seem superficial, but we all make snap judgements based on experiences, sights and sounds. When you show up for a virtual meeting, you’re being judged by your non verbal communication. If you want others to respect your ideas, you need to look and sound like a person worthy of that respect.

Happy Thanksgiving

Why We Need a Lot of Thanksgiving in 2020

Without warning, the events of 2020 challenged our resiliency. We’ve all temporarily lost much of life that we took for granted. Then we discovered the temporary conditions would longer than expected to go away. This required us to summon even more resiliency. The challenge intensified. How do we get more resiliency? The answer lies in the celebration of Thanksgiving.

Trusted Advisors Hall of Fame

Tom Lemanski Hall of Fame Induction

On Thursday October 29, 2020 I became a Hall of Famer in my field. At the Fall Power Summit for The Trusted Advisors Network, I was inducted into their Hall of Fame.

Candor Sign

Getting the REAL Story

When it comes to effective decision making, there’s no substitute for being informed. At the same time, we’re living in the information age. We’re more likely to have too much data than too little. What’s a leader to do to discover what’s really going on? I have eight recommendations including a simple magic word.