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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What Does it Mean When You’re Told You Need to Be More Strategic?
A common recommendation leaders hear from those above them is to work to become more strategic. Thinking, acting, and engaging more strategically sounds like straightforward advice and feedback. But what does it actually mean? In some cases, the idea of becoming more strategic is exactly what it sounds like. The feedback points to the need…
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Leading People Who Know More Than You Do or Do Work You’ve Never Done
As leaders gain more experience and rise in organizations, they invariably lead people who do work they have never done and know things that they don’t know. As a result, leaders are often asked questions they cannot answer or even understand. So, how do leaders show up credibly to those who are more expert than…
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When a Question Becomes Feedback
Feedback can be carried by an infinite number of styles and expressions. People can be direct or indirect, specific or general, or focused on the past or present when they offer feedback. The goal is the same — to influence another person’s behavior. Sometimes, the less direct approach lessens the odds that the other party…
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You’ll Figure it Out
When it comes to solving a highly complex or knotty problem, leaders would sometimes be wise to ask others to generate a creative solution without their assistance. This is especially true when a practical solution seems nearly impossible, and team members don’t have a clue about where to start. Leaders who swoop in and assist
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Getting the Team to Execute Twice as Fast
Results-focused leaders are unreasonably impatient with the pace of execution. When it comes to completing a task, they have a need for speed. They want everyone and everything to go faster. So, they ask those in charge of execution to find a way to shave some time off the clock. Any incremental improvement is a
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The Best Self-Affirmations Aren’t Perfectly True Just Yet
The positive statements leaders and performers tell themselves to raise their confidence and keep themselves calm under pressure are more than just personal pep talks. They are essential for maintaining a positive mindset during performance. By regularly repeating a self-affirmation, leaders and performers cultivate the inner confidence that is so important for focused execution. The
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Helping Team Members Find the Highest Vision of Themselves
Good leaders often believe more in their team members than they believe in themselves. That’s because exceptional leaders choose to see people in terms of their potential. By observing the skills and talents they bring to their work and their interaction with their colleagues, good leaders develop a view of what they are capable of.…
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How Goals Can Make You Less Successful
As the story goes, legendary investor Warren Buffett was asked by his private pilot, Mike Flint, how to set better goals. Flint was frustrated with the progress he was making toward his aspirations and sought Buffett’s wisdom on the matter. Buffett responded by asking Flint to write down his top 25 goals in life. After he completed that
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The Ability to Distinguish Big Problems From Small Ones
For leaders, spending time on problems that others should handle is both a time-wrecker and a morale spoiler. Delegating small problems and issues to trusted colleagues is how good leaders maximize their productivity. The best leaders understand that concentrating their efforts and time on the big problems is how progress happens. Wasting time on anything
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Think About Repurposing Great Content
Leaders and teams sometimes produce some amazingly great content. For instance, a video that perfectly captures the vision, an essay on how AI will impact the team, or an Instagram post and photo describing the impact of music on well-being. The content is typically shared, receives rave reviews, and then is filed away, erased, or…