May, 2013

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Twelve Ways to Spot Fools

Leadership Freak

'Spotting and dealing with fools challenges leaders. Foolishness has nothing to do with intelligence or talent. Smart, gifted people are prime candidates for foolishness. Twelve ways to spot fools: Believe they are right. Hate accountability and practical strategies. Love blaming and reject responsibility. Pursue personal ease rather than challenge.

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Who’s to Blame?

Kevin Eikenberry

'Watch the news, listen to a child, in fact listen to a whole lot of the conversations you will encounter today, and you will hear discussions that include blame. Fingers are regularly pointed at others to explain, justify, and rationalize our actions and results. The more attuned to this you become, the more prevalent you [.].

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Erika Andersen | How To Lead So People Want To Follow You

Tanveer Nasser

What does storytelling reveal to us as being the key attributes leaders everywhere need to exhibit to encourage employees to follow them both in good times and in bad? That's the basis of my conversation with Forbes columnist and leadership writer/consultant, Erika Andersen. Erika is the founding partner of Proteus, a coaching, consulting and training firm that focuses on leader readiness.

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Confronting Toxicity

Leadership Freak

'Average leaders feel successful when they get things done. Exceptional leaders feel successful when they build exceptional places to work. Average leaders fix and do. Exceptional leaders build. You begin thinking leadership is all about results but come to learn it’s about the way we treat each other. Results matter, but how you achieve results [.].

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SME Relationships: Proven Solutions for Seamless Collaboration and Success

Speaker: Tim Buteyn, President of ThinkingKap Learning Solutions

💢 Do you find yourself stuck in never-ending review cycles? Are you wondering if your Subject Matter Expert actually got that last review request? Are you having trouble trying to decipher impractical or conflicting feedback? 💢 If any of these scenarios sounds familiar, you may benefit from a crash course on managing SME relationships!

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Addressing the Rotten-Apple-People Problem

Leadership Freak

'Rotten apples – negative, destructive, self-absorbed, unethical employees – pollute organizations. Furthermore, foul leaders inevitably build stagnant, foul organizations. Worse yet, passive leaders – those who tolerate rotten apples – create rotten environments by default. Leaders who tolerate rotten apples are rotten themselves. Facebook contributors discuss: “One bad apple spoils the whole bunch, true or [.].

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The Complete List of Reasons Leaders Fail

Leadership Freak

'Top 12 reasons leaders fail: Neglecting culture. Culture building is job-one for all leaders. Lack of paranoia. The paranoid think about what could go wrong and make contingency plans. Bitterness, grudges, and resentment. People fail. Successful leaders allow fresh starts. Task rather than people focus. Accepting complexity. Lack of political awareness.

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Simple Isn’t Simple

Leadership Freak

'Any fool can create complex. Complexity leads to confusion. Confusion leads to uncertainty. Uncertainty produces cowardice. Cowards never take meaningful action. Simplicity: Longfellow said, “… in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity.” John Maxwell said, “The leaders job is reducing rather than adding to complexity.” (Chick-fil-A Leadercast 2013) Lousy leaders confuse – exceptional leaders […].

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The Surprising Path to the Top

Leadership Freak

'Image source Top tier leaders develop their leadership; bottom tier leaders don’t. Lousy leaders don’t develop their leadership. Those who need it most – want it least. Those who need it least – want it most. Simple test: Ask yourself, “What am I doing to develop my leadership?” Lousy leaders don’t have an answer. Number […].

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12 Ways to Find Your Confidence

Leadership Freak

'Lack of confidence is the dirty secret in top leaders. Insecure leaders often cover insecurities with strutting. Cocky is compensation for lack of confidence. Cocky is phony confidence. Puffing up, putting down, posturing, excuse making, and negative comparisons express – lack of confidence – cockiness. The need to feel superior means you aren’t.

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Where Passion Comes From

Leadership Freak

'Passion is longing to be what you could be, but aren’t. Passion for leadership is the combination of falling below your imagined leadership potential and longing for exceptional leadership – at the same time. The gap between longing and attainment is passion. You: ABC’s of finding your passion: Accept disappointing performance. You read leadership books, blogs, […].

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Change Management 101: A Practical 3 Part Guide

Implementing new tools or business processes in your organization? Lemon Learning put together a practical 3 part guide to prevent the pitfalls of change management. Drive a successful change management project from diagnosis through to measurement.

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Make Your Number One – Number Two

Leadership Freak

'Image source “How do you get people to pull you, rather than you pushing them?” The question came from a leader in South Africa on a recent Skype call. Don’t waste your leadership influence getting people excited about things you’re excited about… Go with their excitement. Motivating the unmotivated is frustrating, exhausting, and wasteful. Essential […].

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10 Ways to Disrupt Successfully

Leadership Freak

'Embrace the power of disruption or tomorrow will be today, again. More of the same produces more of the same. All leaders disrupt. Successful disruption: Disruption makes new futures possible. But, disruption “gone wild” destroys your capacity to build the future. Too much disruption irritates and aggravates. People make fun of the “innovation of the […].

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The Power of Second Questions

Leadership Freak

'“Most people never listen.” Hemmingway Questions are gifts. Asking, followed by listening, says others matter; telling says you matter. Eager to talk is reluctant to ask. Enemies of curiosity: Disinterest. You really don’t care. Need to appear smart. Hurry. The need for speed, at least initially, stifles curiosity. Knowledge. Those who know don’t ask.

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Growth Hurts: Creating Positive Discomfort

Leadership Freak

'Growth hurts. Doubt, uncertainty, and apprehension describe growth points. “Growth and comfort do not coexist.” Ginny Rometty, CEO of IBM. Growth feels good after, not during. Growth occurs when you think or do things you haven’t already thought or done. New feels awkward. The more it hurts – without breaking or defeating – the more you […].

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Is Training the Right Solution?

Speaker: Tim Buteyn

Let's set the scene: you’ve identified a critical performance gap in your organization and need to close that gap. A colleague suggests training, but you suspect there’s something going on that training can’t address. How can you determine if training is the right solution before you commit your budget and resources to a new training program? In this webinar, you will learn how to determine if training is the right solution using the Behavior Engineering Model.

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12 Ways to Connect and Mobilize People

Leadership Freak

'Young leaders often explain their aspirations in self-centered language. They focus on themselves and neglect others. Individual contributors are great, but leaders always connect and mobilize people. Leadership is about them. 12 ways to connect and mobilize: Highlight need – explain why things can’t go on as they are. Make them know they matter – show […].

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Too Afraid to Matter

Leadership Freak

'Image source Fear binds to the present. Paralyzing fear pats you on the back when nothing changes. Fear cheers for the status quo. Fear says; don’t stand out because you’ll: Look foolish. Screw up. (You will) Get in over your head. Lose what you have. Seem arrogant. Others aren’t standing out. What gives you […].

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When a Second Chance is Worth the Risk

Leadership Freak

'Leave a comment today to become eligible for one of twenty-five complimentary copies of, “Leaders Open Doors,” by Bill Treasurer. * Leaders often fail at letting others fail. But, only perfect people don’t need second chances. There’s no point in getting up if trying again isn’t an option. No second chances: Leaders – who don’t give second […].

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A To-Don’t NOT a To-Do

Leadership Freak

'Even four year olds know that being helped isn’t always helpful. Over eager parents, who step in to “help,” often hear frustrated children say, “I’ll do it myself!” Never help those who can help themselves. You got up this morning thinking about things to-do. But, leaders think about things to-don’t. Helpfulness lifted you to leadership but the [.].

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Revitalizing Dry Content: A Lesson in Engagement

Speaker: Tim Buteyn, President of ThinkingKap Learning Solutions

We’ve all been there. You’ve been given a pile of dry content and asked to create a compelling eLearning course. You’re determined to create something more engaging than the same old course that learners quickly click through, but how do you take this “boring” content and create something relevant and engaging? Many instructional designers will say, “Boring in means boring out.

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Jack Welch on the Cruelest Environments

Leadership Freak

'Image source: me Jack Welch and candor come together. It didn’t take long for the topic of candor to come up at the dinner I attended after the Chick-fil-A Leadercast. In his usual no-nonsense fashion, Jack said, “If your employees don’t know where they stand, you have no right to call yourself a manager.” Here’s […].

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Why Teams Fight and What to Do About It

Leadership Freak

'Image source Nothing is more frustrating, from a leadership point of view, than a group of individuals circling each other like vultures. Team conflict wastes time, energy, and resources. Incompetent leaders have teams who turn on each other. Focus: Lack of focus invites conflict. Teams who don’t know what’s important can’t focus. Leaders focus teams […].

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Facing Reluctance

Leadership Freak

'Don’t waste yourself. You can – you must – lead. Every connection, challenge, problem, pain-point, opportunity, or exchange, opens doors to leadership – to make things better. Reject: Embarrassment with your desire to make things better. Waiting for titles or position. Leadership isn’t a title. Beat-down from do-nothing detractors.

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15 Ways to Make Your Voice Matter

Leadership Freak

'Pathetic talkers – talk after listeners check out. Blabbing leaders have something to say and it doesn’t matter that people in the room have turned to bored, lifeless manikins. They keep blabbing. Talkative leaders talk long past listener’s capacity. Distracting talkers – tweak, guide, correct, add, and adjust ad infinitum ad nauseum. They unnecessarily prolong meetings with [.].

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Brain Fog HQ: Memory Enhancement Techniques for Professional Development

Speaker: Chester Santos – Author, International Keynote Speaker, Executive Coach, Corporate Trainer, Memory Expert, U.S. Memory Champion

In October, scientists discovered that 75% of patients who experienced brain fog had a lower quality of life at work than those who did not. At best, brain fog makes you slower and less efficient. At worst, your performance and cognitive functions are impaired, resulting in memory, management, and task completion problems. In this entertaining and interactive presentation, Chester Santos, "The International Man of Memory," will assist you in developing life-changing skills that will greatly enha

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How to Bring Out the Best

Leadership Freak

'Bringing out your best in yourself is child’s play compared to bringing out the best in others. Leaders who bring out the best in others make courage possible. Nothing meaningful happens without courage. Encourage courage. Everyone is still unlearning the necessary fear parents taught us. Leaders have the courage to develop courage in others. Who […].

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Hit it with the Simple Stick

Leadership Freak

'Complexity makes confused leaders feel important when they should feel like failures. “The business schools reward difficult complex behavior more than simple behavior, but simple behavior is more effective.” Warren Buffett Rivers take long, complex routes to the ocean because they follow the easy path. The hard path is the straight one. Rejection: Simplicity is […].

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Giving Liars a Second Chance

Leadership Freak

'Liars lie for gain, protection, or harm. Lies are self-serving manipulations that violate trust. Some lies are malicious. Others are spoken for personal gain. Still others are silent omissions. The lies we tell include: I’m sick. Customers come first. There’s just this one little problem. People are our most valuable asset. That’s great. I came […].

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The Power of Habits

Kevin Eikenberry

'I am often reminded of the power of habits in my personal life, and today I wanted to explore that with you and make some important connections to our role as a leader, why it can be difficult, and how to improve our success. Two Kinds of Habits While all habits are automatic responses, they [.].

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Don’t Go with Your Gut

Leadership Freak

'Everyone has an inner voice, intuition, or feelings that something is right or wrong. Your gut could be wrong. Don’t trust it. Ask the poker player who went all-in and lost. What about the manager who felt great about hiring a job applicant that didn’t work out. Have you ever felt you were driving in [.].

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Help for Blabbermouths

Leadership Freak

'Raise your hand if you have a boss who talks too much. Blabbermouth bosses exasperate everyone. Raise your hand if you’re a boss. I bet you talk too much, too. As a general rule… Leaders talk too much and listen too little. Blabbermouth bosses talk too much because they: Don’t want others to talk. Believe […].

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The Secret Power of Vulnerability

Leadership Freak

'Image source The power of vulnerability is lost when you don’t dare or don’t know how. Bill Treasurer, author of, “Leaders Open Doors,” said, “I used to drink too much. Way too much. … Three years after getting sober … I decided to reveal to my boss, a partner at Accenture, that I was in […].

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How to Improve Customer Service in Your Organization

Kevin Eikenberry

'Every leader at every level in every organization needs to think about Customer Service. Whether you lead a team that is talking to paying Customers every day, supporting those that do, or just interacting with internal Customers, the need for Customer Service skills –and a Customer orientation is critical. When this subject comes up when [.].

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The Secret to Persuasion

Kevin Eikenberry

'Today’s quotation is short and to the point. It is completely true and too often forgotten in practice. “One of the best ways to persuade others is with your ears – by listening to them.” - Dean Rusk, U.S. Secretary of State Questions to Ponder - What is my first inclination when persuading someone – to [.].

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How Pretending Develops Leaders

Leadership Freak

'Your brain knows gibberish when it hears it. You can’t fool yourself. “I think I can,” sounds like a lie to someone who believes they can’t. Pretending you can doesn’t help, but pretending does. Expand skills and develop behaviors by pretending. Example: Fred’s performance stalled. It’s time for a tough conversation that you dread. Worse yet, tough conversations often […].