August, 2012

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Mintzberg’s Magic Wand

Leadership Freak

I asked Professor Henry Mintzberg, author of 140 articles and 13 books, “If you waved a magic wand over businesses, what would you change?” He said, “I’d get rid of all MBA’s.” He explained, “We’d lose some good people but in the whole it would be a positive move.” Mintzberg’s quiet voice disarms but he [.].

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Ten Phrases Every Leader Should Use

Kevin Eikenberry

“I made a mistake.” “I was wrong.” “I’m sorry.” “I’m not sure.” “I don’t know.” “Would you help me?” “Could you help me understand? I’m not sure I get it.” “What do you think?” “What do you suggest?” “What would you do?” No one likes to show their ignorance, or admit they are wrong.

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Seven Ways to (Really) Engage People

Kevin Eikenberry

Engagement is a very trendy word, and while it is so powerful, because of its (over)use, people are making it harder to understand and think about than is necessary. In fact, it is writers, speakers and consultants (yep, people like me) who are adding to the confusion by injecting complexity where it isn’t needed. So [.].

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Mintzberg on What’s Wrong with Management

Leadership Freak

Henry Mintzberg thinks modern management is off the tracks. While we spoke, I got the feeling if I asked what’s wrong with management he’d say practically everything. This from one of the most respected business thinkers in the world. He went so far as to say, “The problem in America isn’t the economy it’s management.” [.].

Manager 91
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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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Silence Might Be Golden – The Role Of Silence in Meetings

Kevin Eikenberry

Meetings are meant to be a time for people to exchange ideas and insights. While there are many components to effective meetings, one factor most people would put on that list is engaged participants. I mean, a good meeting can’t be quiet can it? Maybe, at least at times. Let’s start with my main premise [.].

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Mintzberg Rejects Macro-Leadership

Leadership Freak

** “Macro-leadership is just as bad as micro-management.” Henry Mintzberg. During our conversation, Mintzberg explained that, “It’s destructive to separate management from leadership. Leaders need to get their hands dirty.” No buy in: Mintzberg believes that leaders focused on setting strategy and vision but who are removed from the front lines eventually develop a vision [.].

Manager 89

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How to Stop so you can Start

Leadership Freak

Before you find your personal best, let go of your mediocrity. Determine what isn’t working and stop it. Stopping: Stopping is harder than you think. Fear of failure makes you keep working at what isn’t working, even when it’s failing. Wanting something to work may blind you to the reality that it isn’t. Failure to [.].

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You’ll Never Get There Without Questions

Leadership Freak

The day you realize leadership is about them not you is the day you begin leading. If you can’t develop people, you can’t lead beyond your current potential. Furthermore, if you don’t develop people, they’ll leave. Techniques that develop: Training. Teaching. Advising. Correcting. Challenging. Coaching. Mentoring. Encouraging. Motivating.

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The Most Powerful Thing Experienced Leaders Do

Leadership Freak

Helping young leaders get started and grow is the most powerful thing experienced leaders do. Growing young leaders changes individuals and organizations. Helping young leaders get started creates a universe of potential and opportunity that never existed. Leadership success is always about developing people. I have great news. Helping young leaders get started and grow [.].

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Olympic Lessons for Everyday Achievers

Kevin Eikenberry

Every two years the Olympics come onto the collective consciousness of the world. And while some watch for the pageantry, the human drama, the patriotism or the actual athletic competition (all of which can be compelling reasons), I believe there is another universal and more useful reason. We watch to be inspired when we see [.].

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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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Can Complainers Become Leaders

Leadership Freak

Are complainers potential leaders. Listen closely to their complaints; learn from their techniques. Seeing problems is the beginning of leadership; circling problems ends leadership. Some see problems and complain; leaders see problems and seek solutions. Political Complainers: The first time I met a political complainer I was twenty-five and leading a growing nonprofit.

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The #1 Thing Leaders Suck At

Leadership Freak

I felt like a kid in a candy story when, after the first ring, Jim Kouzes, co-author of The Leadership Challenge, picked up the phone and said, “It’s Jim.” Four years ago, by chance, I picked up the fourth edition of his book. I read it during one of life’s tipping points. It changed my [.].

Metrics 83
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Why You’re Wrong and I’m Right

Leadership Freak

Image source I think what I think because it’s right. If you think differently, you’re wrong. I never intentionally think stupid ideas or chose wrong options. Do you? I always choose what I think is right. Research indicates that the act of choosing strengthens my opinion that my choice is right. Even if I’m wrong, [.].

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How to Resist Being Helpful

Leadership Freak

Peter Jenson, Ph.D., author, coach, and Olympic sports psychology consultant, said many things during our conversation but one most gripped me. “I let them stew in their failure for a while.” Peter Jenson Ph.D. A team Jenson worked with suffered a disappointing loss. He let them sleep on it. I’ve been mulling over Jenson’s strategy. Resist the [.].

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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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How to Create High Impact Leadership

Leadership Freak

Who gets further, those who delegate or those who don’t? Delegate or die. Delegate or stagnate. If your plate is full and you can’t delegate, look around, you’ve reached your highest potential. Delegating is the path to exponential impact, seizing opportunities, flattening organizations, and leadership development. Why do so many find delegating so difficult?

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Stop Shooting Yourself in the Foot

Leadership Freak

Foolish words nullify hard work and good intentions; stop shooting yourself in the foot. Leaders get ahead by speaking well and working hard. You need both. I’m focusing on words not work, today. Cost/benefit: Foolish words cost. You know you’ve spoken foolishly when you’re expending time and energy correcting false impressions, wrong assumptions, and negative [.].

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The Untapped Secret of Creating Passion

Leadership Freak

** I took a small team into a space that needs transformation and asked them what could be done to make the space youthful and vibrant. They weren’t to consider “how” to do it, at least at first. Just imagine possibilities. Imagination ignites enthusiasm, instills engagement, and deepens commitment. About 40 minutes into the conversation, [.].

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Who Are You Hangin’ With?

Kevin Eikenberry

If you are a parent, you are familiar with this thoughts and feelings. Who is my child hanging out with? Do I know the parents of those kids? What kinds of influences are they subject to? These are natural considerations of a loving parent. After all, we know that children are influenced [.].

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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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Facing Turbulence with Confidence

Leadership Freak

You may wish seas were smooth but leaders live in turbulence. The world is filled with “make believe leaders” who want the helm without the responsibility. They want you to set the course, trim the sails, solve the problems, give them the helm, and applaud. When things are tough everything matters more. Let’s be real. [.].

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Overcome the Dangers of Office Politics

Leadership Freak

Unethical office politicians create perceived threats. They’ll suggest someone is out to get you. “Watch out for Joe!” Vulnerability to unethical office politicians occurs when you wrongly believe they’re acting in your best interest. In reality, they’re working for themselves. I’ll never forget a colleague saying how sorry they felt for our boss. “She thinks [.].

Metrics 80
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Five Ways to Find and Tap Potential

Leadership Freak

Image source Leaders fail when they think too much about things they want and too little about things others want. Immature vision-driven leaders flounder when they believe it’s all about their vision. Think of leadership as helping others win. But, what is helping and what is winning? Leader as helper: The first step toward winning [.].

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The Cure for Pessimism

Leadership Freak

I’m a huge fan of “just go do something,” but a world filled with options and uncertainty paralyzes. When fear prevents the next step, pessimism prevails. Pessimists can’t lead. “The more fearful we are the more pessimistic we grow about the future,” Soren Kaplan, author of, Leapfrogging: Harnessing the Power of Surprise for Business Breakthroughs. [.].

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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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Stretched not Crushed

Leadership Freak

Every time things start going wrong we look to the leader for solutions. Beware! The pressure to provide solutions crushes leaders. When solutions come from the top, organizations crumble from the bottom. A C-level leader recently said, “When I wake up stressed out over problems in the night, I know I’ve forgotten it’s about the [.].

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Stepping Toward Excellence

Leadership Freak

Finding excellence requires passion, persistence, principles, clarity, direction, and more. Excellence isn’t easy. Congratulations if you joined the pursuit. But there’s a key ingredient you’re likely missing that smooths the path and greases the wheels. The pursuit of excellence requires feedback that describes, affirms, and improves useful behaviors or exposes ineffective ones.

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The Surprising Side of Gaining Influence.

Leadership Freak

You can’t lead people you don’t know. Knowing others means understanding and appreciating not judging. Humility: Knowing others if first about you then about others. Humility accepts. Arrogance judges and rejects. Difference frustrates arrogant leaders. Everyone should be like them. On the other hand, humble leaders embrace those with different strengths, weaknesses, cultural backgrounds, and [.].

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Finding the Missing Link of Leadership

Leadership Freak

You’re great at doing but are you great at connecting? I’m still blown away by Henry Mintzberg’s one word of advice, “Connect.” Business stresses and people tensions result in unhappy, disengaged staff unless leaders model and encourage connecting. Meaningful relationships break the grip of distrust, disengagement, and fear. Connecting with others is the secret to [.].

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Himself

Leadership Freak

Whether I’m right or whether I’m wrong Whether I find a place in this world or never belong I gotta be me, I’ve gotta be me What else can I be but what I am. I asked, Jim Kouzes, bestselling author of, The Leadership Challenge, why he left the Tom Peter’s Company. He said, “I [.].

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Handling Co-Worker Complaints and Backstabbing

Leadership Freak

Here’s a question from a recent workshop participant. “How do you handle someone complaining about a co-worker?” First, you want people to come to you. Some managers want challenges, problems, and people to go away. They hide in their offices, sneak to the elevator, or duck into the restroom to avoid facing tough conversations. Suggestions [.].

Manager 80
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What Lousy Leaders Can’t Do

Leadership Freak

Lousy leaders expect others to adapt to them. They’re rigid and bossy. If you expect others to adapt to you, get over yourself. Failure to adapt to others frustrates everyone, including yourself. Leadership is relationships. All relationships include adapting. Successful leaders adapt to others before others adapt to them. Shocking truth: If you aren’t the [.].

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In Praise of Power

Leadership Freak

Saying, “I’m the boss,” indicates you’ve lost influence and resorted to intimidation. Coercive power offends. But, power isn’t a dirty word, with it you get things done. Without power, nothing gets done. Power is the ability to change things. Power and position often come together; higher position usually equals more power. Using power associated with [.].

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Acting and Deciding

Kevin Eikenberry

We have all gotten stuck on a decision – where either both options look good, or neither one looks so good. In those moments, we often wait, stymied or stuck. Today’s quotation gives us another approach, and, by it’s suggestion, gives us a nudge. Do you have a decision in front of you today? If so, read [.].

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Just the Gravy

Leadership Freak

Highlights from day one of The Global Leadership Summit: Bill Hybels: The leaders most valuable asset isn’t time its energy and the ability to energize others. Leaders manage energy. Arrange your schedule around six priorities that you’re shooting to accomplish in six weeks. (6X6) You’re not a leader to respond to stuff. You’re a leader [.].

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