One of the benefits of being a leader is that we have the privilege – and responsibility – of influencing others. When we speak, our followers listen.
But what do they hear?
Often way more than we intended to say. Continue reading Whispering Through a Bullhorn
C.S. Lewis said, “Put first things first and we get second things thrown in: put second things first and we lose both first and second things.”1
That’s sound advice, but it raises the question, “What are the first things and what are the second things?” As free-thinking individuals, we get to choose what our first and second things are going to be. But our choices have consequences and to make the choice is to accept the consequences of that choice.
When it comes to our careers and growing our organizations, one of those choices is how we’re going to view other people. We can choose: Continue reading Selfishly Selfless
I spent the early part of my career as a software developer. The nice thing about software is that it is highly predictable. Barring hardware problems, software does exactly what the developer tells it to do. Even bugs aren’t the software’s fault – it’s just doing 
exactly what some developer (either of the application, the compiler, or underlying operating system) told it to do. Not necessarily what the developer wanted, but what it was told to do. The developer’s job is to provide thorough and accurate instructions so the software behaves correctly.
If only human interactions were that straight-forward.
Continue reading That’s Not What I Wanted…
Leaders tend to be smart people. That’s the problem. With an abundance of our own good ideas and answers,
it’s hard to give others a meaningful role in our endeavors.
Our education-rich culture leads us to expect followers to flock to us if we simply reveal our wisdom. Sometimes short-term evidence affirms that idea. People get excited by our vision and imagine themselves in the picture. But eventually their energy wanes as they realize our vision lacks room for their ideas.
Continue reading Compliance vs. Commitment
Leadership is fundamentally about using pooled resources to achieve some purpose. The narrative behind traditional organizational leadership goes something like this:
That approach has served us well for several generations. But as has oft been said, “what got us here won’t get us there”. Continue reading The Changing Narrative of Leadership
Three generations. Global cultures. Diverse values. Blending them together for a common goal? 
Leadership today is tough. What if you had to knit together four generations of even more multi-cultural, more diverse values? That’s what our next generation of leaders has to look forward to. Millennial values are no more permanent than those of any previous generation, although no one knows yet what the values of the Millennial+1 generation will be. Continue reading If You Think Leading Today Is Tough…
By some definitions, Adolf Hitler was a leader. So were Joseph Stalin and Pol Pot. 
But would you have chosen to follow them?
The most fundamental characteristic of a leader is the presence of followers. You might be a manager or an entrepreneur, but until you have followers, you’re not leading. Continue reading Future-Focused Leadership
Pete couldn’t wait to implement the new project management process his friend Bill told him about. 
After Bill described the incredible success their organization had with it, Pete ran out and bought the book Bill recommended and read it that week. Replacing their aging donor management system seemed like the perfect project to launch it on.
Fast forward six months…
Pete’s frustrations were at an all-time high. The original project plan called for the implementation of the new system to be well under way by now. Instead, they were still arguing over which vendor to select. How could Bill have been so successful with this methodology that was failing him so miserably?
Continue reading Building on Quicksand
When Jack launched his homeless shelter he had no idea
it would grow to house over a hundred people at a time and provide meals and showers for thousands more. He didn’t expect to have a staff of eighteen people and numerous volunteers. But his passion for helping the homeless was contagious. He discovered he was good at raising support, launching creative programs, and recruiting people.
He knew he wasn’t good at the administrative stuff, so he hired people or outsourced those functions. But now he had hit a plateau that he just couldn’t get past. Continue reading Jack and Jill Went Up the Hill…Now What?
