5 Top Leadership Articles for the Week of August 29, 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.
How Can I Help You Do Your Job Better by John Baldoni at SmartBriefs on Leadership
A question employees love to hear: How can I help you do your job better?
That is one of the most potent questions in management for a senior executive to put to an employee. Offering such assistance is recognition by the executive that his job is to help others do their jobs better.
When you hire people who are motivated to stretch themselves to reach goals for themselves and their teams, providing support for them stokes the fire of their engines.
My Comment: Yes!
And once you ask, listen. Without judgment. Just listen – be on the lookout for ways you can remove barriers, get them additional training or equipping they might need, help them reason through a problem, or even ‘just’ encourage them to stay the course with the track their on. Such a powerful question!
Leaders, How Do You Begin Your Conversations? Nine Phrases NOT to Use by John Stoker
I really believe that what begins well ends well. It is important to begin a conversation in such a way that allows the other person to hear and think about your message. Recently, I sat and observed a senior leader begin his conversation with two directors by stating, “As you are probably already thinking….” One director looked at the other and then at their leader and said courageously, “You know when you say that it scares me to death?” The other director chimed in by saying, “Yes, it just makes me hope that I am thinking the same as you, and if I’m not, I really wouldn’t be inclined to tell you.” Their candid feedback really helped this leader recognize how important it is to begin a conversation in a way that doesn’t make it difficult for the person to respond, disagree, or add their perspective
As a leader, it is important to think about what kind of information you want to give or receive from your listener. The way you begin a conversation, particularly a potentially difficult conversation, will have everything to do with how the other person responds. In an attempt to be a more collaborative leader, some will employ what they think is a softer approach which can end up feeling somewhat manipulative.
Here are a number of phrases or words that any leader would do best not to employ in beginning a conversation…
My Comment: This is a fantastic list – I definitely recommend it. The essence of so many of these ineffective conversation starters is that they shut down dialogue before it even starts – often because you’ve assumed your way into another person’s thinking and not left them any room to do their own.
10 Ways to Develop Critical Thinking for Leaders by Dante Munnis
If you are a leader or want to become one, you probably know the importance of critical thinking. You need to be able to look at any issue objectively and address it in a way that allows you to evaluate it and form a judgment. This is the base of any piece of advice that you might want to give away to your team, so you should make sure that you can get it right.
Unfortunately, not everybody has critical thinking as one of their strengths. It requires a lot of exercising since childhood, and you might have been lucky enough to be in an environment that stimulate it in you well enough. Good news is that, no matter how old are you, you still can develop your critical thinking by following one of our tips below.
My Comment: We live in an age where you can look up the answer to many questions just by asking Siri or Google. Unfortunately, that ability to look up answers is also curtailing the practice of critical thinking. If you’re serious about leading well, you can’t outsource your critical thinking. Work on your problem solving and critical thinking abilities with Munnis’ suggestions.
3 Cs Can Boost Accountability in Your Workplace by S. Chris Edmonds
How accountable are leaders and team members in your organization? How strong are players’ “commitments to their commitments”?
Accountability seems like it should be simple. People commit to goals, projects, results, service activities, values and behaviors, etc., then do what they’ve promised to do, the way they’ve promised to do it. Easy, right?
Not so easy.
My Comment: Accountability is one of those words that most people have negative associations about. That’s unfortunate – the ability to hold yourself accountable as an individual, team, or organization is a hallmark of healthy, fulfilling, and productive life. Edmonds’ suggestions can help foster more of this vital attribute. I would stress communication – in particular, the mutually shared commitments up front. Check for understanding to make sure they’re thinking what you thought you communicated.
5 Ways Pokémon Go Will Make You a Better Leader
Easily, the most popular article I shared this week was my own – focused on how you can use the same strategies video games use to get people doing things they don’t ordinarily do…because they want to. If you missed it, here it is again – enjoy!
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