Leadership is a lifelong learning process. Every great leader always looks for ways to improve. No one ever wakes up and says, “I know everything there is to know about leadership. I’m a perfect leader.”
Leadership can be especially challenging for entrepreneurs. Balancing the need to run a business (i.e., products, investors, customers, etc.) and the need to lead company personnel is quite a task.
Innovation isn't this abstract thing that some companies have and some don't.
Innovation is actually a business skill that executives and employees can develop and master.
So says Booz & Company management consultants Barry Jaruzelski, John Loehr, and Richard Holman. The authors of Booz's annual "Global Innovation 1,000 report" named the most innovative companies in the world for 2012 and studied what makes them so.
Tim Cook--unlike his predecessor, Steve Jobs--famously doesn't crave the spotlight. So his most recent interview with Businessweek, which appears as a the magazine's cover story, offered a rare glimpse into Cook's life as CEO of Apple.
The discussion ranged from product design to manufacturing; he announced the company will expand its manufacturing operation in the USA. But the interview also provided some great insight for leaders about stewarding an organization--any organization.
Here are a few takeaways from Cook's leadership style...
Are leaders born or made? Authors John Zenger, Joseph R. Folkman, Robert Sherwin, Jr., and Barbara Steel explore how anyone can become a better leader in their book How To Be Exceptional: Drive Leadership Success By Magnifying Your Strengths. “If you concur that leadership is a set of skills and not a body of knowledge or a personality type, then learning leadership skills probably has much in common with learning any other set of skills,” they write.
“My loyalty to Country and Team is beyond reproach.” --Navy SEAL Creed
When you think of strong leaders, you probably think of people who are decisive, bold, confident, and fearless. You’re not wrong. Good leaders have all of these qualities. But how many good leaders are also loyal? I don’t know, but I know that every great leader is.
Loyalty is one of the core values taught in the Navy SEAL training program. Instructors teach you from the first day that your team is everything to you. You succeed with them, and you fail without them. And you never leave anyone behind.
In the era of post-post-feminism, let's just admit it: Men and women are--or at least can be--different in certain ways. And some of those ways show up at the workplace. Some even show up in the C-suite. So, let's take the time to ponder how that, well, works.
In the past few months, I’ve worked with several leaders who were navigating significant new challenges in their roles. The differences between those who managed these situations successfully and those who didn't often showed itself in their responses to these very common blocks to leadership growth.
Nobody is born great.
We all start off as equals: tiny infants who can’t do much on their own. Forget about beautiful paintings, elegant singing and persuasive writing that sells itself; we can’t even smile yet!
Later on in life, we often get frustrated with ourselves when we’re first trying to learn a new skill. We expect to be naturally good at it. We expect this skill to come easily.
What we forget is that every single skill that comes easily to us now wasn’t easy at all when we were first born.
It’s no effort to feed yourself now. Pick up food; place in mouth. You don’t even think about it. But when you were an infant, you picked up the spoon over and over and missed your mouth entirely. You did it all the time.
You did it until you finally mastered that skill.
President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney tackled this election cycle's hot-button issues--from job creation to tax cuts--in separate 60 Minutes interviews that aired Sunday night.
But besides meticulous planning and a command of policy details, what else does it take to run the country? The candidates candidly shared their thoughts on the requirements for a commander-in-chief. (We've got the highlights here; scroll down to watch the longer video segments.)
For the past two decades, I've been interviewing and observing successful C-level executives to discover the secrets of their success.
In a previous post, I documented the core beliefs of extraordinary bosses. Now it's time for something more tactical--the simple ground rules for managing a team effectively:
After conducting interviews with thousands of executives, I've noticed there's a subset of bosses who inspire their employees and colleagues to achieve more than they ever thought possible.
These individuals tend to share the following traits...
Leadership is often over-estimated.
It is over-estimated because many assume being a leader consumes much of a person’s time and effort. This mentality, however, often defeats leadership.
Many great leaders must have balance, along with a few other key aspects in their lives, to become someone that others want to follow. Becoming a leader within your freelancing industry can be as simple as making sure to incorporate the 3 key elements discussed below into your daily life.
Benjamin Franklin was a man of action. Over his lifetime, his curiosity and passion fueled a diverse range of interests. He was a writer (often using a pseudonym), publisher, diplomat, inventor and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.
His inventions included the lightning rod, bifocals and the Franklin stove. Franklin was responsible for establishing the first public library, organizing fire fighters in Philadelphia, was one of the early supporters of mutual insurance and crossed the Atlantic eight times. Self-development was a constant endeavor throughout his incredible life.
Benjamin Franklin was clearly a man who knew how to get things done.
We know how leaders are supposed to look. They stand straight and tall. They are physically expansive, radiating confidence and power. In fact, taking on such physical attributes can actually make people feel more leader-ish, says Amy Cuddy, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School. Cuddy and two co-researchers are studying "power posing"--an exercise for charisma-hungry leaders who want not only to appear more confident but also to be that way. She spoke with editor-at-large Leigh Buchanan about mastering the physical side of leadership.
Steve Jobs, founder of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Pixar (NYSE:DIS) was an iconic manager with a zest for taking on feats deemed impossible. He was able win over an entire planet. His Eastern beliefs set him apart from Western leaders. With an intense focus on what should be, he disrupted dysfunctional markets with simple elegant replacements. His Eastern wisdom encouraged focus and to “Think Different,” which may have meant to experience the moment.
No two businesses and industries are alike, but successful leadership principles are largely universal. So, learn by emulating what successful business owners and leaders have done to succeed.
We asked several successful business owners for their best leadership advice. Some fundamental concepts were cited over and over again.
No two businesses and industries are alike, but successful leadership principles are largely universal. So, learn by emulating what successful business owners and leaders have done to succeed.
We asked several successful business owners for their best leadership advice. Some fundamental concepts were cited over and over again.
One morning in 1965, Robert Ellis Smith, then-recent Harvard University graduate, received a phone call that would change his life. On the other end was a former fellow student who was starting a newspaper in Montgomery, Ala., strictly dedicated to covering the Civil Rights Movement. The voice on the other line asked Ellis Smith, former president of The Harvard Crimson, to lead the project. Without hesitation, he took the job and headed down to the Deep South.
They say that being in the top job of any organization is stressful, but that the pay is worth it. It seems the same is true when it comes to the government — as these super-rich heads of state show. Who says working in the public sector has to pay badly?
When people are envisioning their future and that of their company, they often downplay their potential successes to avoid coming off as conceited or pompous.
I am not one of those people.
When I put together my Painted Picture, I see myself swimming in success. My speaking calendar is full, my roster of clients has grown and includes really awesome startups, companies beg me to sit on their boards, heck, even my home life is balanced and amazing.
