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Ever heard the phrase “It’s lonely at the top”? In Chapter 1 of his book Leadership Gold, John Maxwell suggests that if that’s true, then you’re not doing something right. I tend to agree with him. But what is it about leadership that makes that such a common phrase? For one thing, when you become…
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I posted a few months ago about the importance of seeing failures as system problems more than people problems. I said then that it’s important not to place blame on human failure too easily, but rather to recognize the role that the system has in hindering success. What I didn’t mention at the time was…
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Many leadership influencers highlight the importance of being clear on your priorities. Every time you say “Yes” to something, you’re saying “No” to something else, so choose your “No” carefully. These tradeoffs quickly become apparent when you’re looking at corporate strategies to pursue markets, products, roadmaps, and investments. But there’s another part of leadership strategy…
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We all mess up sometimes in our leadership. And whether the issue is a failure of competence or a failure of character, our next question is often, “How do I rebuild the trust I just lost?” It’s easy to get caught up in mechanics. What should I say? How should I structure my apology? How…
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Many managers dread performance conversations. There are so many ways they can go wrong, and new managers especially often have little experience delivering candid feedback. There are some formulas that try to help. They give guidance to shape your delivery, including advice to be specific, use examples, focus on observable behavior, avoid assuming motive or…
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I’ve heard it said that if you tell your team something seven times, half of them will say they’ve heard it once. As the team’s leader, it’s easy to get frustrated at this. “I already told you! We talked about this, remember?” Well, two days ago, I talked about the fact that when senior leaders…
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You’re finally in a position of leadership, but still, senior leaders are making decisions that affect your team. And they’re not asking for your input. What’s worse is that you have information that you believe would change their decision, if only they were aware of it. It’s tempting to become frustrated, to take it personally,…
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Most teams have more work to do than they have capacity to do it. And depending on who is prioritizing, the work that gets done is often the work requested by the leader with the highest rank, the wheel with the loudest squeak, or the person with the most recent appeal. When that happens, everything…
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If you were lucky, your employer gave you some basic leadership training when you moved from being an individual contributor to being a manager. And if you’re like most managers, you’ve also discovered that living out that management training is harder than it looks. It’s not enough to learn the mechanics of management. It’s not…
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“Just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.” “Give me a formula. I can follow a formula.” That’s how I wanted to approach management after several years as an engineer. And when members of my team came to me with questions, that’s also how I wanted to offer my help – by giving…
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There is more work getting done on more projects than you’ve ever had under your growing leadership role, but you’re feeling less success even as your responsibility expands. You’re not alone. It’s a common experience. And here’s what’s happening… Early in your career, success was easy to see. Your tasks often had a clear definition…
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I know I used a rather judgmental word in the title here. I said, “bottleneck.” I know it can feel frustrating to have your progress halted by indecision or inaction from the leaders above you who are supposed to be helping you succeed. A “bottleneck” is exactly how it feels. And when that happens, you…
Musings
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