Some think you either focus on the vision or you focus on the practical, and that’s just how the world is. But great executive leaders know they must be able to see both the long-term vision and the next step, and you can learn how to do it. As a leader, your job is to [...]
To Be an Effective Executive Leader, You Need to Know Yourself
Great leaders understand who they are and where they stand. They also know that they don’t know everything. You may think you already know yourself. But real knowing is understanding that we don’t know everything. Think about the leaders you admire who have achieved great things and made a difference in some way. To step [...]
Key to Executive Leadership: Be Present
The only moment in which we can take action is the present moment. Awareness of what’s happening right now is critical to successful leadership — from self-awareness to the awareness of others, your team, your organization, and your environment. Presence is the key to your effectiveness, influence, vision, communication, integrity, relationships, and continuous improvement. When [...]
Create Accountability in Your Organization
As organizations grow and have more employees, executives can lose sight of the need for single-person accountability. They start to move to consensus decision-making and diffuse responsibility. This results in slow decision-making, inefficiencies, political maneuvering, and internal competition for credit. If anything goes wrong, it usually leads to blame and finger-pointing. When you make high-performing [...]
Be the Change You Want to See
Many of today’s organizations try to develop the capability to quickly adapt to change in their management teams and even in all employees. But as an executive leader, you need to take the next step. It’s not enough to adapt to change when you’re often the person creating the change. You’re the model for others [...]
Authentic Vulnerability Builds Trust
Showing vulnerability takes courage, but it’s also one of the most powerful ways to connect with people and gain their trust. When your team sees you are human and vulnerable, they identify with you and can see the leadership potential in themselves. When you show your vulnerability, you give others permission to be authentic and [...]
Build Real Relationships
We spend the majority of our time with the people we work with, so why don’t we develop real relationships with them? Building relationships with people can also build success. Plus, having real relationships make going to work every day far more enjoyable. You don’t have to be friends with everyone, but you can create [...]
Boost the Self-Esteem of Others
In any company, people are your biggest asset. Nothing happens unless your people make it happen. Most executives spend the majority of their time dealing with people. So we want them to be the best they can be, and that starts with their self-esteem. Self-esteem at work generally relates to whether or not the person [...]