For the rest of the year, we’ll be looking at the top posts of 2017. Today we dig into posts 10 through 6.
10. Balancing Innovation and Execution
At some point, every leader seems to grapple with the balance between innovation and execution. Many leaders struggle with the notion that one great idea will save the day for the organization. Others spend an inordinate amount of time focusing on “getting out the laundry” and not on new ideas.
9. Opposite of Victim
Someone asked me the other day what was the opposite of the victim mentality. That ignited a lively dialogue which came to the conclusion that Creativity is the opposite of victim mentality. Isn’t that a great picture? If we eliminate policies, procedures, governance, or leadership styles that create or assume a victim mentality, we unleash creativity. Although my work is focused on leadership within corporations, the first thing that came to mind was our law makers.
8. You can’t fix culture
I named my company Team Leadership Culture because those were the three elements that made a company great. You can think of those three elements as a triangle: Team and leadership at the base of the triangle, culture at the top. If you have not taken the time to build great teams and great leaders, a great culture is not going to develop.
Team is the most important. With a great team, lots of wonderful things can happen, sometimes even with mediocre leadership. However, great leadership without a good team almost always fails.
7. Myers-Briggs In-Depth: Deciding: Thinking vs Feeling – Part I
Most (business) people react negatively to this “Feeling” function and will associate with the Thinking side rather than the “touchy feely” side. While this is a complete misconception, it drives a very strong bias to the Thinking side. In my data base of corporate leaders that I’ve gathered over the last 25 years, roughly 85% identify themselves with a Thinking Preference and about 15% with a Feeling Preference. This is far outside the parameters of the other functions.
6. Qualities of a Caring Leader: Confrontation
Part of leading is confronting people and urging them toward better performance.
Confrontation does not involve giving a report on another person’s behavior. It means offering feedback on the other’s role or response. Its goal, in the business environment, is to bring the employee, boss, or peer face to face with issues (behavior, emotions, achievement) that are being avoided.