Uncategorized
Traits of an Evergreen Leader
It was five years ago that my first book, The Leader’s Guide to Turbulent Times was published. And it was
It was five years ago that my first book, The Leader’s Guide to Turbulent Times was published. And it was
I’ll fallen for all the false promises around time management. Do this and find 30 more minutes in your day. Manage your calendar and marvel at how much you’ll get done and all the free time you’ll amass.
No matter how faithfully I follow the instructions, I’ve never achieved having any span of time, even 5 minutes, where I marveled at how much time I had “created” in my schedule and then wondered how I might use that time I’d freed up.
The reason is quite simple. We neither “create” time nor “manage” time nor “lose” time. Time is time.
So the question of time management is not outside of us (better planning, calendar tricks, a time saving device) but within us. How efficiently we use our time is within our control.
Discover what I’ve learned about time management, wise self-management, how to move away from busy and start embracing bountiful, and more.
I don’t collect “things”, but I do collect quotes that call to me, questions that reframe my thinking and books (lots of books). And, daily I capture glimmers of wisdom culled from all three in my yearly journal.
Today, I’ve gone back through my 2018 journal to glean the wisdom from the quotes I’ve captured, the questions I’ve wrestled with and the books that resonated with me.
Today I share a blog written in response to my blog asking if you were a student or a learner. Dave Hoff, co-author of Learning Agility: The Key to Leadership Potential and COO/EVP of EASI Consult.
Here’s a sneak peek at Dave Hoff’s blog:
My colleague Kris’ last blog posed the question, “Are you a student or a learner?” From my perspective, the answer could lie with your development of learning agility.
One of the specialties of my consulting firm is learning agility. We define learning agility as finding yourself in a situation that you have never been in before and don’t know what to do but then you figure it out. Regarding learner versus student, I’d say that learning agility is probably more characteristic of a learner than it is of a student.
I want to step back, though, and first describe some aspects of learning agility, partially within the context of Kris’ earlier blog.
Keep reading to learn more!
As I work closely with many others in my consulting practice, I see a distinct difference between how people approach new situations. Some eagerly jump in, even though they aren’t fully prepared. Others may be willing, but they wait for clear direction, for the path to be cleared, for step by step direction before they will venture into this new territory.
As I observe these two approaches, I see a distinct difference between learners and students.
Discover what I see as the key differences between learners and students, and find out which of these two categories the world needs more of.
I sincerely hope that you’ve had a chance to be a part of at least one highly collaborative team! It is a peak experience that I’ve worked to define in my new blog post. If you have not been a part of a collaborative team, I’ve attempted to capture the essence of this experience so that you are more alert to it.
During this blog, I dive through my past experiences to highlight how collaborative teams function and to define what they do differently.
Is your leadership or your team truly collaborative? See if you can find out by reading this post!
True confession….when no less than three different clients this year asked for help on collaboration I experienced a sense of validation and vindication. Because on no less than three prior occasions, as I was up for a promotion in my earlier careers, I was denied. The reason for not making the cut? “I was TOO collaborative.”
There was no denying I was collaborative. Still am. Always will be. I do my best work side by side with others, dreaming, creating, and then doing. But TOO collaborative? How could that be?
Join me as I explore the concept of collaboration with knowledge I’ve learned through reading current thought leaders, creating content, facilitating workshops and more. During my exploration of collaboration, I come to a stunning conclusion about how I could be TOO collaborative that I want to share with you! At the end, you’ll also find my chart on “collaboration at a glance”.
The forces of change surround us and are unrelenting. Fiber optics allow us to move data at amazing speeds and the cost of storage has plummeted from a cool $300K for 1 gig in 1980, to virtually free today. In addition to the accelerating power of the internet, we see an explosion in the speed of change. It may be driven by technology but it touches all that we do.
We find ourselves in an environment in which disruption is the steady state. Responding to today’s environment requires us to think about business in a different light. Where innovation exists alongside optimization. Where we get comfortable with the joy of creating, the emotion of connecting, and the powerful output of networks and collaborations.
Keep reading to find out four ways to foster innovation within organizations. You won’t want to miss the section where I discuss bringing creativity into the workforce to build connections with current and future customers.
As I speak to leadership groups and mention the value of networking, I invariably get a brave soul or two who raises their hands to make points like, “I hate networking events. They seem like a waste of time. You meet a lot of people, none of whom remember you for more than a millisecond.” Or, “Networking just seems like a way to promote yourself and get others to do things for you.”
And I remember the time I thought the same thoughts and had the same questions. And how, over time, I’ve done a complete shift in how I view networking and my own network.
Keep reading to learn what I now know about networking as a leader. You won’t want to miss the section where I dive into the five categories of people that all leaders need for their networks.
Face it: Failure stinks. No one I know likes it. And even the most successful and creative people I know, don’t celebrate things that turned out poorly.
Yet a mantra that has emerged in the last five years is to “celebrate” failure. Really? Celebrate?
While I get, on some level, the reasoning to encourage people to take a risk and actually “do something” – the notion of celebrating failure is not, what I believe, is in anyone’s best interest.
Learn about other behaviors that are detrimental to organizations, and discover what healthy behaviors your organization should consider adding.
Fill out the form to receive the Evergreen Leadership newsletter and be notified about new blogs.