Great Leadership By Dan

FEBRUARY 19, 2008

In honor of President's Day (not sure where it came from.): “In his lifetime, Ronald Reagan was such a cheerful and invigorating presence that it was easy to forget what daunting historic tasks he set himself. He sought to mend America's wounded spirit, to restore the strength of the free world and to free the slaves of Communism.” That's how Lady Thatcher started her great eulogy of Ronald Reagan, summarizing in one sentence his personal qualities and his great achievements.

Leadership 204

Leadership Micromanagement Policies Covey 204

Women's Leadership Exchange

DECEMBER 5, 2008

We all race around as if the more we do, the more successful we will be.and it's not true. The new ideas, the right connections, come when we breathe, and take time to think about our business. Only then can we shape it to fulfill our dreams and the current market needs. Please don't hate me when I say, maybe this recession is a good thing. The slowdown of business forces us to reassess, rethink and. really go deep to say,"is this really what I want my life to be like?

Marketing 77

Marketing Succession Leadership 77

Anese Cavanaugh

DECEMBER 17, 2008

NOTE: This article is part of a bigger article released to DTE Community Members. You can access this full article and additional articles by registering in the box in the upper right hand corner of this page. The end of the year provides us a great opportunity to reflect on the previous year, pull learning and have it support the next year. Whether for myself or my clients, I find that the more reflective we can be at the end of the year, and the more intentional we can be going forward, the s

Products 70

Products Productivity Bottom-up Learning-by-Doing 70

Rajesh Setty

OCTOBER 27, 2008

HELLO THERE AND WELCOME. You are a new visitor to this blog. Here you’ll find more than 1500 articles and mini-sagas on entrepreneurship, leadership, creativity and simply how to distinguish yourself. You REALLY should subscribe to our newsletter too - you will get exclusive content that is NOT featured on this blog once or twice a month. Its even 100% free!

Licensing 49

Licensing Newsletter Blog Comparison 49

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Management

Managing Communities

DECEMBER 29, 2008

Individuality, on a personal level, is a good thing. We’re all different. We like different things. That’s great. That’s what life is all about and a big part of what makes it interesting and worthwhile. However, when it comes to being a community staff member and enforcing the guidelines of a community, individuality is a bad [.].

Guidelines 40

Guidelines Management 40

The Recovering Engineer

DECEMBER 11, 2008

Subscribe to Receive Updates Home About This Blog Archives Great Reading Contact Me my business about me Communication Skills Persuasion DISC Model Family Relationships Parenting Leadership Skills Post Series Reflections Decision Making From Our Cats Personal Change Resolving Conflict Problem Solving Video Browse > Home / Communication Skills , DISC Model , Family Relationships , Leadership Skills , Resolving Conflict / Conflict Resolution Tips: Task Oriented People with People Oriented Individu

Tips 239

Tips Engineering FAQ Self-aware 239

Great Leadership By Dan

SEPTEMBER 28, 2008

Movies are a great way to learn about leadership! Here’s CCL’s Clemson Turregano, who has facilitated "leadership at the movies" sessions for years: "I started using movies when I was teaching at West Point and then at the Naval War College," he notes. "Movies, like a case study, offer real-life portrayals of examples of leadership in crisis. Viewers can use these portrayals to discuss the behaviors they would like to emulate or avoid during similar circumstances.

Film 158

Film Greenleaf Leadership Collins 158

Great Leadership By Dan

JANUARY 13, 2008

DO: 1. Seek feedback on a regular basis, especially after you have identified development goals. Exchanging information and perceptions is a process, not a single event. 2. Receive feedback as a gift that provides you with honest information about your perceived behavior/performance. Be open to what you will hear. 3. Let the person finish what he or she is saying. 4.

Tips 158

Tips Goal Information Process 158

Great Leadership By Dan

MARCH 29, 2008

I first came across this story from an engineering colleague of mine, Kyle Smith. He said he got it from Howard Winsett, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. I have no idea if it's true, but it's a great story to help people see the need to challenge the conventional wisdom. Or silly HR policies. Does the expression, "We've always done it that way!" ring any bells?

Bureaucracy 143

Bureaucracy Engineering Transportation Policies 143

Great Leadership By Dan

JANUARY 19, 2008

1. First of all, make sure your employees have no real direction, expectations, goals, or standards. After all, a good employee should be able to handle ambiguity, deal with paradox, and eat change for breakfast. No need to spoon feed them or spell things out for them – just give them the ‘old mission pep talk and turn ‘em loose! 2. Keep track of each and every time your employees mess up.

Teamwork 140

Teamwork Proposal Learning-by-Doing Follow-up 140

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How To

Great Leadership By Dan

APRIL 1, 2008

Great list from Tom Peters: 20 signs of a good leader: Good leadership comes in all shapes and sizes. However there are a number of things that great leaders have in common. These are 20 of them: Leaders create opportunities for others. Leaders are not always the best performers. The ability to lead is seldom teamed up with the best ability. Leaders implement.

Bureaucracy 135

Bureaucracy Innovation Marketing Team 135

Great Leadership By Dan

JANUARY 27, 2008

Y ou may have the story about failure during the tenure of Tom Watson, Sr. as CEO of IBM. As the story goes, a promising young executive at IBM was involved in a risky venture that lost $10 million for the company. When Tom Watson Sr., the founder and CEO of IBM, called the executive to his office, the executive tendered his resignation. Watson is reported to have said, "You can't be serious.

Development 129

Development Objective CEO Magazine 129

Great Leadership By Dan

AUGUST 28, 2008

The questions below relate to the skills and qualities needed for effective coaching. Use this assessment to evaluate your own effectiveness as a coach. 1. Do you seize development opportunities and focus on immediate performance problems for your employees? 2. Do you try to develop a supportive, emotional bond with your employees? 3. Do you observe your employee's behavior?

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Bond Skills Follow-up Quality 128

Great Leadership By Dan

MAY 26, 2008

1. Practice “what’s possible” thinking. Don’t limit to yourself based on previous failures. Practice using the phrase “up until now…” 2. Avoid the temptation to jump to the quick fix when solving a problem. In many cases, speed and simplicity can serve you well, but if overused, can limit your strategic alternatives. 3. Learn and practice the characteristics of strategic thinkers: - Curiosity: You’re genuinely interested in what’s going on in your unit, company, industry, and wider business envi

Committee 126

Committee Strategic Planning Creativity Strategy 126

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Diversity

Great Leadership By Dan

JANUARY 16, 2008

Guest post from Brad Smart , Author of Topgrading: How Leading Companies Win by Hiring, Coaching, and Keeping the Best People : I don’t know about you, but early in my career I was very disappointed with my hiring track record. Assessing selection candidates was my job, too! Thirty years ago I began studying why almost EVERYONE’S hiring record was so bad.

How To 126

How To Reference Cost Case Study 126

Great Leadership By Dan

MAY 4, 2008

Here's some tips for leaders on communicating during turbulent times: Act as if it Matters · Make communications important to you personally · Measure yourself on how well you communicate (up, down, around) · Work on continuously improving your communication processes (written, oral, contextual, intuitive, interpersonal) Trust in your Informal Channels · Use Open Doors to gather information on what’s actually happening (or not happening) · “Shop Talk” is really quite accurate More is ALWAYS Bett

Tips 125

Tips Real Estate Uncertainty Crisis 125

Great Leadership By Dan

OCTOBER 29, 2008

I’ve always been a strong proponent of the importance of having a written individual development plan (IDP) for leadership development. That is, identifying: - What you want to get better at - How you’re going to do it - When you’re going to do it I have one. I make sure my employees have one. And I try to encourage all employees to have one, not just managers.

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Planning Development Power Resistance 124

Great Leadership By Dan

FEBRUARY 23, 2008

Today’s global business environment requires more and more leadership teams to operate from a distance. So how do you provide effective feedback when you don’t see your leaders on a regular basis? Here are some guidelines for effective long-distance feedback. Don’t leave feedback to chance. Giving feedback to long-distance team members requires you to make a more formal effort.

Team 124

Team Guidelines Report Globalization 124

Speaker: Cy Wakeman, M.S., CSP, President, Reality-Based Leadership

Most HR leadership philosophies are grounded in two completely faulty assumptions — “change is hard” and “engagement drives results.” Those beliefs have inspired expensive attempts to keep change from being disruptive to employees. What these engagement programs actually do is create and reinforce feelings of victim-hood and leave employees unprepared to adapt to real changes that are necessary for the health and profitability of their enterprises.

Self-aware

Great Leadership By Dan

APRIL 22, 2008

Here's a checklist I've used to evaluate the quality of a leader's individual development plan. Use to evaluate your own plan or to coach others. Robustness 1. Has the IDP been generated/updated within the last 12 months? 2. Is the IDP complete? 3. Are the development actions substantial? 4. To what extent is there connectivity between the career path, leadership assessment, development needs and planned development actions?

Planning 123

Planning Development Business Objectives Mentor 123

Great Leadership By Dan

JANUARY 12, 2008

1. Challenge current approaches to your work. Think about whether you and your direct reports can work together in new, previously unimaginable possibilities. 2. Challenge existing beliefs and assumptions. Ask yourself, your colleagues and your direct reports whether your current views about how things are done in your company are correct. 3. Get educated.

Creativity 123

Creativity Tips Brainstorming Open-book 123

Great Leadership By Dan

FEBRUARY 24, 2008

Delegation, put most simply, involves the assignment of a specific task or project by one person to another, and the person’s commitment to complete the task or project. It is one of the most important skills demonstrated by successful leaders and one often neglected or overlooked by "overworked" leaders. Effective delegators spend time planning work assignments and organizing resources to achieve business goals in the most productive way possible.

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Delegation Guidelines Short-term Long-term 121

Great Leadership By Dan

FEBRUARY 16, 2008

The Center for Creative leadership’s research on executive success and failure identified the significance of “derailers”, and how they differ than just mere weaknesses. They studied leaders who made it to at least the G.M. level, but then their careers had involuntarily stalled, or had been demoted, fired, or asked to take early retirement. A derailer is not just a weakness.

Leadership 121

Leadership Self-aware Career Business Objectives 121

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Innovation

Great Leadership By Dan

JANUARY 24, 2008

"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss", The Who Using a structured “New Leader Integration Process” can: - Reduce the time that it takes a new leader and his or her new work team to begin to communicate more openly and freely, and build trust, inclusion, and collaboration - Offer the new team the opportunity to surface, explore and discuss their perceptions with the new leader, focusing on needs and expectations, concerns and issues, team direction, goals, and current or anticipated projects.

Process 121

Process Learning Curve Project Team 121

Great Leadership By Dan

APRIL 6, 2008

Guest post by the remarkable Keven Eikenberry : There are many reasons why trust is important to us as leaders. With higher levels of trust we are able to influence change more easily and quickly. With more trust we are able to create higher levels of productivity and team cohesiveness. I could go on, but in short, being trustworthy and trusted are two of the most valuable attributes remarkable leaders possess.

Learning-by-Doing 120

Learning-by-Doing Consultative Budgeting Definition 120

Great Leadership By Dan

AUGUST 5, 2008

Companies will often use external, university-based programs as a way to develop their high potential senior leaders. These programs typically are 1-2 weeks in duration and offer an intense (and expensive) learning experience. According to Iris Marchaj, Director of Smith Executive Education, “99% of leadership development programs offered by elite business schools are male-oriented.which is precisely why they fail when it comes to leadership learning for women!

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Leadership Bond Execution Education 120

Great Leadership By Dan

MAY 2, 2008

Here's 6 tips for helping an employee find a mentor: 1. Look for individuals who are able to understand and shape the employee’s long-term professional goals (e.g., someone who has a similar background or who is currently in a position the employee might like to have in the future). 2. Consider people who are influential within the company. These individuals know how the organization works and can help your employee navigate the system. 3.

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Mentor Tips Long-term Report 120

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Tactics

Great Leadership By Dan

MAY 1, 2008

There was a question over on the ASTD discussion board that inspired me to write this post. Pam asked: “ I am looking for ideas to provide training with limited resources (space, money and staff)”. It’s a great question. I’ll bet there’s a lot of small, one-person training departments and even big, global companies that need to run a lean organization that are looking for ways to train or develop leaders on the cheap.

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Leadership Development Budgeting Development Leadership 120

Great Leadership By Dan

APRIL 21, 2008

Pepsi has always been known as a great company for leader's. USA Today recently did an interview with Their CEO, Eric Foss. Here's the link: Retain talent, but develop it, Pepsi Bottling chief says. I like what he has to say. Here's a summary: 1. Most people quit because they feel underappreciated. Give talented executives stretch assignments. 2. It's a myth that all fresh ideas come from new hires and that long tenure creates stale thinking.

Leadership Development 120

Leadership Development Development Leadership Definition 120

Great Leadership By Dan

APRIL 20, 2008

Here’s 10 sure-fire ways to derail even your most promising high potential employees: 1. First of all, recognize that high-potential employees are a threat to your own job and treat them that way. These eager beavers are always exceeding expectations, are ambitious, and want nothing more than to step all over you to climb their career ladder. 2. Put them in a job rotation program, with a never-ending series of short assignments with no real accountability or opportunity to contribute.

Mentor 120

Mentor Follow-up Career Goal 120

Great Leadership By Dan

APRIL 13, 2008

The two major reasons people do not give effective feedback are lack of time and lack of comfort. Listed here are five easy ways to confront these barriers head on. Barrier: “I do not have enough time to give feedback on a regular basis.” Solution #1: Schedule one-on-one development sessions with each of your team members at the beginning of the year.

Tips 120

Tips Information Efficiency Goal 120

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How To