“Best practices are just past practices. You need next practices.” I once said to a client. The reason? Visit any traditionally managed business and you’ll see the same pattern: they operate like their competitors. They hire the same people and have the same business model, processes, and everything else in between.
Category Archives: entrepreneurship
Open-mindedness: The Secret Weapon of Innovation Leaders
Open-mindedness: Bullsh*t or Superpower? Forget charisma, forget vision. The one quality truly separating innovation rockstars from the mediocre is a shockingly underrated superpower: open-mindedness.
Leadership is The Ultimate Equalizer
Want to make a difference in anything you do? That’s the mindset and attitude of a leader. Leadership is the ultimate difference-maker in groups, teams, organizations, and businesses. There is no shortage of training, seminars, talks, books, courses, and articles; still, great leadership is rare. The industrial era command and control model still reigns supreme, and businesses feel like employees are there to serve the business owner(s).
Are You Accelerating Progress Or Are You Impeding It?
I truly believe that whether a business thrives or dies is largely determined by the quality of its leadership. And, great leadership is spread across the whole business not just one person. Yes, businesses are surviving even with bad leadership but because no better option exists.
“That’s The Way We’ve Always Done It!” Is A Sign That Your Business Needs To Change
Continuous improvement. Every leader wants it, yet most businesses believe they’re improving when they’re just doing business the way they’ve always done them. And this is where decay starts. Innovation has many enemies. One of them is an aversion to change. This plays out in an organization when people say “That’s the way we’ve always done it”.
Marc Andreessen: The 5 Personality Traits of An Innovator
Are all innovators alike? Yes, in both personality and skills. Anyone can learn the skills necessary to innovate, but personality traits are different. Some people are born with highly developed curiosity, openness to new ideas and experiences, risk-taking, persistence, and imagination.
Avoid This Leadership Mistake To Be a More Effective Leader
For all the leadership advice out there, most businesses are underled and managed. The industrial era command-and-control way of leading and managing persists. Leading a team is like conducting an orchestra. Each member brings their unique instrument, their strengths, and quirks, and your job is to blend them into a harmonious symphony of success. But what happens when you hand a clarinet to your star percussionist? You get squeaks and frustration for everyone. That, my friends, is the pitfall of misaligned talent.