5 Top Leadership Articles for the Week of August 15, 2016
Each week I read a number of leadership articles from various online resources and share them across social media. Here are the five articles readers found most valuable last week. I have added my comment about each article and would like to hear what you think, too.
A 30-60-90 Day Plan for New Leaders by Paul LaRue at Lead Change Group
Leaders new to a team have the unenviable task of getting results, building trust and establishing credibility. All the while they are learning their new role, and possibly even a new company.
For some leaders, doing one or the other is attainable, but doing all simultaneously can be a daunting task. It can be a delicate balance at times, and giving attention to everything at once can be a bit overwhelming.
My Comment: LaRue offers a great month-by-month guide for leaders who are new to their team and his suggestions will definitely help you be effective. Even if you’ve been leading a team for quite some time, these are worthwhile suggestions to revisit and reintegrate if you’ve let them lapse (or never really did it).
The One Thing You’re Sure to Struggle With As a Leader by Lolly Daskal
Leaders face a lot of issues but one thing they will struggle with is sometimes staying positive.
Being a leader is all about balance. You have to be mindful and quick, slow and steady, take risks, have vision, listen but speak, know but question—and do it all with grace.
It goes without saying that challenges come with the territory. One of the most overwhelming, for many leaders, is the struggle to stay positive in the face of a demanding position. Fighting negativity is a distraction that keeps lots of leaders from their best work.
How can you stay positive in a negative world?
My Comment: Whether you naturally tend to focus on results or focus on relationships, it’s easy to lose your perspective and get sucked into ‘life in the bubble’ of your organization’s politics, challenges, and personalities. Daskal’s suggestions are on point and will help you stay positive (not falsely cheery…but with a healthy perspective). The final suggestion she offers is so often overlooked: you don’t have to lead alone. Get the help and support you need.
Three Critical Steps to Developing Your Millennial Leadership Talent by Elisha Yeoh at Let’s Grow Leaders
You’ve seen them, you’ve heard of them, and some of you may even be working with them. These them I’m referring to is the Gen-Ys. Regardless of what you may currently think of them, the presence of these young individuals have definitely changed the realities of workplace dynamics, especially now that Gen-Ys are slowly being reviewed to fill in managerial positions.
More and more organizations are beginning to tear down walls (both metaphorically and literally) to keep up to date with the current trends of building up great young leaders who will one day assume more responsibilities. However are these young people in your organization ready to make the hard decisions and lead a team?
My Comment: Elisha Yeoh is part of Michael Teoh in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They work with companies like Microsoft, GE, and Intel to develop their young talent. Join Karin Hurt, Michael, and me this Friday for a great conversation to help you avoid all the bad advice out there and cultivate your millennials for lasting results!
What 2 Best Selling Researchers Say Are the 10 Biggest Truths About Leadership by Marcel Schwantes at Inc.com
Imagine you’re sitting in a meeting with your colleagues at work, and in walks someone you’ve never met before. This person says, “Hi, I’m your new leader.” What questions immediately come to mind that you would want to ask this person?
As it turns out, best-selling authors and prolific leadership educators, Barry Posner and James Kouzes, spent 30 years pouring over their research data from over a million respondents to discover what has been consistently true about leadership over the years.
In The Truth About Leadership, the formula for exceptional leadership — across generational lines (these time-tested truths are effective on Millennials, Gen Xers nad Boomers alike) — is finally revealed for us all.
My Comment: I’ve owned every edition of The Leadership Challenge – along with most of the ancillary books that accompany it. Kouzes and Posner created a phenomenal resource for every aspiring leader because they focus on behaviors – not personality. The behaviors will make you influential and they’ve got the research to back it up. If The Leadership Challenge isn’t part of your leadership library, follow this link and take care of that today!
Why Leaders Must Develop An Outward Mindset by Skip Prichard
Your mindset is the key to your success, your happiness, and your ability to perform at exceptional levels. Your mindset is how you look at yourself and the world around you. An internal mindset is one blind to others, what they need, and how to create collective results.
My Comment: Through an interview of author Jim Ferrell about his book The Outward Mindset, Prichard explores the transformation that happens when you get the focus off yourself and onto others. Just one benefit – you connect and build the healthy relationships that move you from User or Pleaser tendencies to Winning Well leadership – is invaluable! An outward mindset doesn’t just improve your leadership – it will improve your life.
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