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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Getting People to Talk
Contrary to common sense and experience, the best way to get people to open up and begin talking is not by asking a question, but rather by making a request. While questions are the natural “go-to” for getting others to speak their minds, it is actually requests that pose as questions that get the job
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Waiting for a Situation to Play Out
Waiting for a Situation to Play Out. While inaction is never the default of good leaders and decision-makers, it is sometimes the right call for a period of time. Letting a situation unfold can test a leader’s patience, but it is the smart choice when indecision is caused by a lack of data. Clarity can…
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What Team Leaders Can Learn from Cults
There’s always a spellbinding way to describe where an organization is going and why. Good leaders work hard to craft an engrossing message, not to create mindless followers, but to excite and energize new and existing team members. When an organization connects a vision and purpose to team members that is larger than themselves and…
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Track Conversations Before Sales Growth
By measuring quality conversations, everyone quickly learns what is truly the most important driver of revenue and growth. Getting the foundations right allows everyone the opportunity to succeed. Conversations always form the pyramid of sales success. What does your organization or team measure?
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The Question That Defines Trust for Leaders
The Question That Defines Trust for Leaders. Whatever leaders ask of others, those on the receiving end ponder whether the leader would do that same thing for them. When the answer is “Yes,” trust reaches the stratosphere. Power, status, compensation and experience often get in the way of how leaders meet this standard. The best…
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How Leaders Help to Create Brilliant Jerks
They go by different names in various organizations: Cultural Terrorists, High-performing Skunks, Brilliant Jerks, Shining Swine, and Talented Toads. These are team members who achieve great results but consistently display disruptive, inconsiderate, or toxic behavior. Leaders who manage them are confronted with a major dilemma. On the one hand, these Brilliant Jerks deliver extraordinary results.…
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Disrespect Between Colleagues Can Derail the Team
Respect between team members is a critical ingredient for high performance. Respect builds comradery and trust in the team and allows conversations between team members to become easeful and efficient. It reduces defensiveness and encourages openness and candidness. Teams with a high degree of respect between members find a way to work through problems and…
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Select Wisely From the Menu of Criticism
Those who grow from criticism take what they need from it and discard the rest. They consider the full menu and then make a considered selection. They don’t worry about what they’re not selecting or the many other items that are not relevant for this meal. They are hungry for improvement, but selective in what…
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Did You Give Your Brain a Workout Today?
The key to both physical and intellectual exercise is to do it consistently. That’s how the best performers get into and stay in shape. Great leaders stay in shape both physically and mentally. The best news is that the two arenas feed one another when done consistently and with vigor. Leadership strength does not come…
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Learning From the Shadow
Of the many ways we can gain insight, learn how things work, and come to appreciate the details connected to high performance, perhaps none is more powerful than to follow or shadow someone with experience and skill. Following the footsteps of those who have mastered the kind of performance or role we desire to play shows us