Why Great Leadership Fuels Innovation

By Patrick Lencioni

Bringing new ideas to life requires teamwork that only great leaders can elicit.

Admit it: you’re a little obsessed with innovation. I don’t blame you. Considering how fast markets evolve in today’s global economy and how quickly technology changes compared with even a decade ago, your growth almost certainly depends on creating new products–and new ways to serve customers–no matter what industry you’re in. Continue reading

Learning Is the Most Celebrated Neglected Activity in the Workplace

by Gianpiero Petriglieri

When I am invited to “teach leadership” to managers in corporations, I use the first few minutes to address the issue of where and how one learns to lead—and what gets in the way. I usually begin with a confession and a question.

My confession is always the same. That I am hoping to learn something from our encounter, brief as it may be, that I will remember and use. This is what I believe good leaders and good teachers have in common—the commitment to keep learning as they practice.

I have never met a manager who disagrees. Good leaders, they tell me, like good teachers, raise tough questions and make others feel stretched, empowered, inspired. Mediocre ones issue commands and make others feel overlooked, bored, underutilized. Continue reading

Take a Look at Yourself in the Leadership Mirror

By Manfred Kets de Vries

To gain a better understanding of your leadership strengths and weaknesses, take a look at yourself through the eyes of others.

How we see ourselves is often very different from how we appear to others. Actions we believe reflect decisive or confident characteristics may come across as controlling or arrogant while attempts at openness may be perceived as being indecisive or weak. Understanding how supervisors, co-workers, direct reports and clients perceive us can give valuable insights into our leadership behavior and help us become more effective leaders, better able to embrace and adapt to change. Continue reading

If You’re Always Giving Orders, You’re Not a Great Leader

The best leaders spend five times more time teaching with questions than telling people what to do. What’s your ratio?

Think about a leader and chances are your first image is of someone giving orders — maybe it’s the quarterback in a huddle outlining the next play for his teammates, maybe it’s an army officer coolly  barking commands in the heat of combat. But chances are, when many of us think of leadership, we picture a person telling others what to do. Continue reading

Negotiations

Beth Carterby Beth Carter

How good a negotiator are you? Do you push back or do you not try to counteroffer? Many people do not realize that most products and services are negotiable. When you buy a car it is expected to haggle with the salesperson over price but why is that not the case in other scenarios? In the workplace, how many accept the first compensation package that is provided or the standard raise rate and not think to question it? Continue reading