It was an honest and innocent enough sounding question. “Rob, do most people find themselves changing their minds during this exercise?” said Ron, “Should I be open-minded or stick to my guns!?!” This was during a teamwork simulation I was facilitating for our Beijing-based Executive MBA staff a couple of weeks ago while I was visiting them. It is one of those … [Read more...] about How Open-Minded Are You?
leadership
A Constant State of Urgency
The leaders I talk with – whether they are in corporations, nonprofits, or government – tell me that most of their days are frenzied. They feel like they are in a “constant state of urgency” – going from one fire to another. This is the issue that Steven Covey was addressing in his book First Things First as he suggested that leaders need to spend less time on what is … [Read more...] about A Constant State of Urgency
Developing Your Self-Awareness
Developing your self-awareness has long been thought of as a key to improving your leadership capability. Self-awareness is valuable because if you understand yourself extremely well then you can choose the appropriate effective behaviors to fit the situations you find yourself in. Without understanding yourself, you act on your natural “tendencies” which might not always … [Read more...] about Developing Your Self-Awareness
Execution Beats Strategy?
While I preach and preach about the importance of having an excellent, coherent strategy I cannot deny the overwhelming importance of great execution. In recent weeks I have worked with two top leaders (both women incidentally)who are fantastic at execution - which has driven this home. The importance of being able to GSD (Get Stuff Done) is always vital, as two friends of … [Read more...] about Execution Beats Strategy?
Top Ten List: Running a Great Meeting
It’s really not that complicated, which makes it even more maddening that meetings seem to be run poorly so often. If you have been recently frustrated about that, click here for some comic relief with a clip from the classic, Bloody Meetings. Not every meeting has the same purpose, but following are general guidelines for running an effective meeting. Feel free to forward … [Read more...] about Top Ten List: Running a Great Meeting