Tuesday Reading

Many leaders spend many late nights in the office, sacrifice their own resources, etc. all to increase the likelihood of success.  Sometimes this comes at the expense of people’s health, their families, and their sanity. But, Patrick Lencioni from Table Group notes in “What Leaders Won’t Do” <http://www.wobi.com/blog/leadership/what-leaders-wont-do>, while many leaders make great sacrifices to increase the likelihood of success, […]

Most of us have experienced team members taking the discussion at a meeting off-track.  It could be to a topic not on the team leader’s agenda, either the written one or the one in only the lead’s head.  Or, it could be to an aspect of a topic on the agenda that has already been addressed, etc. The […]

It’s hard to be a good judge of people.  Because it’s hard we often, almost exclusively, depend on extrinsic markers academic scores, results in previous jobs, job titles, salary, etc.  We can also add extrinsic measures from social media – how many friends of Facebook, followers on Twitter, or who we know in common on […]

From the desks of Jack Zenger and Joe Folkman comes an article sharing the importance of like-ability in a leader.  Zenger is CEO and Folkman is President at Zenger – Folkman, a consultancy focusing on strength based leadership development located in Orem, Utah. Zenger – Folkman has one of the largest known databases of data […]

Justin Rhodes, associate professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, tells us that excercise can be the answer.  The essay appeared in the Scientific American. Rhodes says that there is a growing body of evidence that suggests that we think and learn better after we exercise.  Part of the reason that cognition […]

This essay first appeared in the Harvard Business Review blog and comes from the pens of Deborah Gruenfeld, Maghadam Family Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Lauren Zander is Founder of the Handel Group. Gruenfeld and Zander posit that authenticity is of great value as a leader […]

Colin Shaw,  CEO, Beyond Philosophy, a customer experience consultancy, shares insight on how to be sucessful.  Shaw notes that in his work life he has had some “great managers and some real idiots” and that he could learn from both.  The good managers he copied and he did just the opposite of what the idiots […]

In “Forget The Mission Statement:  What’s Your Mission Question?”,  Warren Berger challenges us to consider responding to a set of mission questions instead of writing a mission statement that is so general it can apply to almost anything.  He argues that mission questions provide a reality check on whether you are staying true to what […]

Sarah Le Roy, vice president of Talent at Linkage is the author of today’s Tuesday Reading, “Share Your Leadership Vision One Shell at a Time” <http://mylinkage.com/blog/sharpen-your-leadership-vision/>.  In the essay she tells the story of “shelling” with her eight year-old daughter.  As they walked along the beach, Le Roy noted (to herself) that she consistently found better shells […]

In “The True Story of Amazing Customer Service From – GASP! – an Airline”, Barbara Apple Sullivan, CEO and managing partner of Sullivan, a brand engagement firm based in New York City, retells the experience she had when she lost her passport in Paris, trying to return to the States on Delta Airlines.   From […]

Making progress toward a goal increases motivation and performance.  In today’s reading, “3 Motivational Mind Tricks Designed to Power Progress” <http://www.fastcompany.com/3012545/dialed/3-motivational-mind-tricks-designed-to-power-progress>, Janet Choi, Chief Creative Officer of iDoneThis, provides advice on how we can use our mind to power further progress. Choi notes that as you think about a goal, you really need to know where […]

The Tuesday Reading for today “Feeling Appreciated?  Why It Can Make All The Difference” <http://www.forbes.com/sites/margiewarrell/2013/05/16/feeling-appreciated-why-it-can-make-all-the-difference/> comes from the pen of Margie Warrell, author, leadership coach, and keynote speaker.  Warrell focuses on empowering people to live and lead with greater courage.  This essay first appeared in Forbes. Worrell notes that Donald Peterson, the former chair of […]

The essay for today’s Tuesday Reading, “5 Ways To Calm ‘Feedback Fires’” <http://www.forbes.com/sites/joefolkman/2013/05/27/5-ways-to-calm-feedback-fires-what-we-can-learn-from-celebrity-meltdowns/>, first appeared in Forbes and comes from the pen of Joseph Folkman.  Folkman is a behavioral statistician who writes on evidence-based improvement.  He is also president and co-founder of Zenger Folkman, a consultancy focused on strengths based development. After commenting on several […]

Today’s Reading is “The One Conversational Tool That Will Make You Better At Absolutely Everything” <http://www.fastcompany.com/3003945/one-conversational-tool-will-make-you-better-absolutely-everything> from the pen of Shane Snow, a New York City-based technology writer and co-founder of Contently.com.  The article first appeared in Fast Company. “Most people are terrible at asking questions.”  We talk too much.  We accept bad answers.  We […]

Dewitt Latimer was CIO at Montana State University until his untimely death earlier this month in a motorcycle accident. Prior to his becoming CIO at Montana State, he was Deputy CIO at the University of Notre Dame. Among the many words of sympathy and celebration of his life that were written was today’s reading “Lessons […]

Today’s reading, “The 15 Most Important Minutes of the Work Week” <http://www.fastcompany.com/3008912/work-smart/the-15-most-important-minutes-of-the-work-week>, is from the pen of Lydia Dishman, business journalist covering innovation, entrepreneurship, and style.  She regularly writes for FastCompany, CBSMoneywatch, and the New York Times. Dishman begins her essay by asking “How often do you and your boss have a real one-on-one conversation […]

Joe Bajek, Director of Enterprise Cloud Services at the University of Colorado and an Advanced Leaders Program participant, submitted this reflection on leadership.  I would add that you should look for opportunities to help those around you.  Both you and they will benefit.   . . . jim     One Handby Joe Balek, Director […]

This “reading” is a short video presenting the idea that having courage enables you to say NO to something so that you can say YES to something that really matters.  Its author is Michael Bungay Stanier, a senior partner at Box of Crayons, a Toronto-based organization with the slogan “do less Good Work in order […]

Brian McDonald reflects on the horrific set of events that took place in Greater Boston and he points out several enduring leadership principles.   .  .  .  jim   The Boston Bombing Was Close to Homeby Brian McDonald, President, MOR Associates, Watertown, MA Marathon Monday is a wonderful tradition in Boston going back 117 years. It […]

It’s the job of the leader to keep the team “on point,” heading with a laser-like focus on getting the results the team committed to deliver to its sponsor.  This good reminder for all of us comes from Robert O’Malley, Director Electronic Research Administration, University Information Systems, University of Colorado. Is it time for you […]