FieldNotes
Our daily Field Notes email is just the kind of jumpstart you need. A fast read. Maybe less than a minute. Because sometimes it just takes one insight to change the trajectory of the day.
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Leaders Who Trade in Loyalty
How much does loyalty influence my decisions and judgments regarding the team? Leaders who stand steadfastly behind team members and their ideas primarily because of their loyalty create significant team dysfunction. Like so many other leadership qualities, too much of a good thing can create longterm disorder. Even loyalty.
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Withholding Praise on Purpose
Withholding Praise on Purpose. Similar to withholding praise, generating fear is all about controlling others. Not giving others what they need to feel good about themselves creates the doubt and insecurity necessary for control. Good leaders eschew this path toward encouraging high performance. They understand that leadership is about giving away control, not hoarding it.
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Stop Arguing With People Who Already Agree With You
When Your Leader Is Most Influenced by the Last Conversation. In an ever-changing world and marketplace, strategy and decision-making are increasingly complex. As a result, leaders who work through an issue with team members can find themselves waffling back and forth between alternate courses of action, all of which have their upsides and downsides. Without…
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When Your Leader Is Most Influenced by the Last Conversation
When Your Leader Is Most Influenced by the Last Conversation In an ever-changing world and marketplace, strategy and decision-making are increasingly complex. As a result, leaders who work through an issue with team members can find themselves waffling back and forth between alternate courses of action, all of which have their upsides and downsides. Without…
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The Strategic Humor of Ronald Reagan
For the best leaders, humor is a device that serves a myriad of functions. Like Reagan, wise leaders value the power of humor to achieve outcomes in a fundamentally human way. Humor binds and connects people, cultures, and differences. When used strategically, perhaps nothing has more utility to a savvy leader.
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Replay an Amazing Success
Sometimes a team or family member performs in spectacular fashion. They achieve a result or execute a process in an extraordinary way. Those around them are proud of what they have accomplished and celebrate their success. In a matter of time, emotions return to normal and the high performer begins to work hard to achieve…
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Leading Those Who Can’t Tolerate Ambiguity
Good leaders create clarity. They know the ability for others to perform consistently at the highest level depends on a clarity of roles, responsibilities, and expectations. Sometimes, clarity can be elusive. Leaders don’t always have the desired facts or data from which to ground their decisions, actions, and choices. Ambiguity is more common than clarity…
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Support the Personal Goals of Those You Lead
Supporting the personal goals of those on the team creates a deeper connection and more resilient relationship. Other forms of encouragement pale in comparison. Team members come to believe they can do anything when they have the full support of their leader. Leaders who extend this backing to the personal goals and pursuits of others…
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Overcoming the Doubters
Believing in their own abilities and moving boldly toward their goals is what successful people do. Turning dreams into a reality requires hard work and deep commitment, but also the inner confidence to stay the course. Having those around you who believe in your ideas, talents, and pursuits is like having the wind at your…
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Encouraging Referrals From Customers and Clients
Perhaps nothing influences people more than a referral from a trusted source. That’s why referrals are so highly coveted by anyone who does work for customers or clients. Referrals aren’t given easily. But by priming the pump with gratitude and endorsements on their behalf, the resistance to refer your work begins to melt away. Great…