“I’ll just do it myself.” We all say this from time to time as we rationalize our decision to take on additional work tasks and responsibilities. We may tell ourselves that it’s faster to just complete the task than to explain the process to someone else. At times, we fail to delegate due to lack of trust in the quality of a team member’s help. The success of the project may seem too risky to leave in another’s hands. Other times, we intentionally choose not to delegate because we love the task itself. While giving up control over critical projects … Read More
Accelerating Strategic Self-Development
Over the holidays, I took time to clear the mental and physical clutter that accumulated throughout the past year. This included everything from shredding old papers and clearing my inbox to letting go of some disappointments that were holding me back. In the process of Marie Kondo’ing my professional life, I forced myself to read dozens of articles I’d bookmarked over the past year. After a while, I noticed a theme that was so strong, I felt compelled to quantify what I was seeing. I created a tally for every time I read a leadership article that mentioned trust, communication, … Read More
Put an End to the Hustle Culture
“If you don’t work nights and weekends in your 20s, you’re not going to have a successful career. Sorry.” This tweet, posted on Christmas Eve by a cryptocurrency entrepreneur, set the Twitter world ablaze. While other entrepreneurs jumped to the poster’s defense citing their 70+ hour work weeks, many others called into question the pervasiveness of burnout and the toxicity of the modern “hustle culture.” Much like the epidemic of “busyness,” there’s a troubling phenomenon in the workplace that idolizes unhealthy behaviors seemingly associated with success. “Hustle culture” is certainly not new, but has flourished in the past decade thanks, … Read More
Evaluating your 2019 Leadership Effectiveness
As 2019 comes to a close and performance review season ramps up, it’s a natural time to reflect on your team’s performance throughout the year. This is always a time-consuming process that few people enjoy, but can be effective when the right questions are asked. Particularly for leaders, the performance review process often focuses more on the business outcomes and goals than key aspects of people and culture. Here are 20 questions about leadership effectiveness and end-of-year reflection to guide your own self-review as a leader: As 2019 comes to a close and performance review season ramps up, it’s a … Read More
Best New Year’s Resolutions for Leaders
With less than 3 weeks until 2020, it’s a great time to start envisioning the positive changes you want to experience next year. Start the next decade on the right foot by bringing the best version of yourself to your team. Whether you’re new to a leadership role or have a cupboard full of “World’s Best Boss” mugs, there is always room for improvement. Whether you’re committing to learn something new, narrowing your blind spots, or venturing outside of your comfort zone, your employees will recognize and respect the effort.
Delivering Bad News During the Holidays
Delivering bad news is an unfortunate, but necessary part of every manager’s responsibilities. Deciding what to communicate and how to deliver the news can be a stressful and emotionally draining experience for the bearer of bad news. However, nothing is worse than having to communicate a termination or lay-off during the holidays. Unfortunately, an end-of-year lay-off is still quite common and requires particularly sensitive care when delivering the devastating news.