“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: Leadership
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”.
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.
The Death Ground Strategy: Create A Sense of Urgency
Happy New Year! I want to set the tone for the 2024 first post this year: Acting with a sense of urgency.
There is no better way to do that than fighting with your back against the wall. This is called the death-ground strategy. Though initially a military tactic, this ancient strategy holds profound implications for personal and professional growth. The Death-Ground Strategy is based on placing oneself in a ‘do or die’ situation, where failure is not an option. In such scenarios, people often find untapped reservoirs of courage, determination, and focus.