Leadership Is Not a Solitary Task - John Coleman by John Coleman | 1:00 PM February 5, 2014 An inspiring historical story is once again making the rounds at least partially because of its inclusion in Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, David and Goliath. In it, Gladwell tells the story of the French town of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, which became a safe haven for Jews in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. Led by minister André Trocmé, the residents of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon saved between 3,000 and 3,500 Jews (in addition to others seeking refuge) from 1940 until the end of the war, bringing them into the community and hiding them from French and Nazi officials. We often think of leadership as a solitary task. First, great leadership often starts in community. Similarly, great leaders often realize they must act not in isolation but with community. Finally, the most inspiring leadership is that done for community. This is obviously true in the world of nonprofits and human rights. These are old principles, but they are worth remembering.
The "Sandwich Approach" Undermines Your Feedback - Roger Schwarz by Roger Schwarz | 10:00 AM April 19, 2013 Have you ever used the “sandwich approach” to give negative feedback to your direct reports? You sandwich the negative feedback between two pieces of positive feedback. First, let’s look at why leaders use the sandwich approach and why it doesn’t work. They think it’s easier for people to hear and accept negative feedback when it comes with positive feedback. They assume the sandwich approach provides balanced feedback. They believe that giving positive feedback with negative feedback reduces discomfort and anxiety. Effective leaders are transparent about the strategies they use when working with others. Imagine that you plan to use the sandwich approach with Alex and Stacey, two direct reports who just gave a presentation to your senior leadership team. Identify your strategy for the conversation. You can use this three-question transparency test in any situation to determine whether your strategy is unilaterally controlling.
The (Not So Difficult) Trick To Get Your Emails Read We spend hours sorting through the 150 billion or so emails that ricochet around the Internet every day. So which ones get the click? Popular email clients like Gmail show the first 50 or so characters of the body copy in the inbox view. So a clear subject line and a concise, actionable lead sentence will make it most likely to get chosen. Here's how to craft a clear email that will make the recipient click and actually read it once they do. The Less fluffy words, the more actionable the message As Kuhcoon CEO Andrew Torva writes at Medium, our email habits are in need of an epic defluffling. Hey Andrew I just wanted to email you and tell you about an interesting opportunity. Instead, we need to write like a time-pressed chief executive might. Andrew, I'd like to help you solve problem X. The conciseness works because it's thoughtful; you're taking into account the reader, the user experience, if you would, of the person on the other side of the message. Hat tip: Medium
4 Soft Skills That You Need To Learn Over at the Geek Manager site, Meri Williams recently blogged about a phenomenon she sees play out among her teams. A technically brilliant person “slowly becomes incredibly frustrated that they don’t have the impact they want to have.” The person knows he needs “soft skills” but many then fell prey to belief in what Williams calls the Soft Skills Fairy. “The Soft Skills Fairy has a wand, and if you were touched with it at birth then you have soft skills. If you weren’t you don’t and can never develop them,” she writes. This is obviously ridiculous. But this isn’t a modern observation. 1. I’m an introvert, but fortunately, I’m also a journalist. 2. While misery may love company, long term it’s not the company you want to be keep. 3. To quote Carnegie, “Show respect for the other person’s opinions. 4. Carnegie told people to “appeal to the nobler motives” and it’s not a bad idea.
Your Optimism Might Be Stifling Your Team - Liz Wiseman by Liz Wiseman | 2:00 PM May 1, 2013 I admit that I’m prone to an optimistic outlook, a belief that most problems can be tackled with hard work and the right mindset. I’ve read the research that indicates that positive thinkers tend to do better in school, work and life. Perhaps I even assumed that optimism was infectious and that people wanted to work with a confident, hopeful leader. In the true spirit of optimism, how could this possibly go wrong? Then I found out from a colleague that he didn’t find my optimism nearly as reassuring as I did. To me, this seemed like a feasible, interesting challenge, and I enthusiastically dove in. “Saying what?” “Saying that thing you always say — ‘How hard can it be?’” “But why?” He paused and said, “Because what we are doing is actually really hard, and I need you to acknowledge that.” He wasn’t opposed to the idea that our enormous task was doable; he simply wanted me to acknowledge the reality of the challenge and recognize his struggle.
Fortune Management & Career Blog FORTUNE -- Dear Annie: I'm graduating from college at the end of May and have already been interviewed by two companies that might want to hire me, with two more interviews (at different employers) scheduled in mid-March. I could really use some guidance from you and your readers on how to go forward after these meetings. For example, I sent thank-you notes by email to the hiring managers I've met so far, but a friend says a handwritten note would have made me stand out more. Should I do that next time? Also, how soon after the interview is it acceptable to ask whether I'm still being considered for the job, and how often should I get back in touch if I don't hear anything? I'm trying to seem enthusiastic but not desperate. Dear N.N.: Great question, and one that plenty of seasoned jobseekers puzzle over, too. MORE: Microsoft culture must change, chairman says The time to get a feel for how soon you should hear back from the employer, he says, is during the interview.
5 Ways To Measure The Emotional Intelligence Of Your Boss Research has shown us that more than 90% of top leadership performers have a high amount of emotional intelligence or EI. The higher up the ladder that leaders are, the more people they impact and their EI becomes increasingly important. The person at the top sets the atmosphere that permeates the organization, including the emotional temperature. Not only does a leader with low emotional intelligence have a negative impact on employee morale, it directly impacts staff retention. We know that the biggest reason that people give for leaving an organization is the relationship with those above them. Below are five ways to spot an emotionally intelligent boss. 1. Insecure leaders that demonstrate low EI become defensive and take it personally whenever they encounter anything that appears to them as criticism and a challenge to their authority. 2. Leaders who are oblivious to their own emotions and how they are impacted by them have no awareness of how their words and actions affect others.
(167) How to master your time - Leading a better life - Quora Imagine you were a Jedi master called Bob (your parents, whilst skilled in the ways of the force weren’t the best at choosing names). The love of your life - Princess Lucia – is trapped in a burning building as you hurry to save her. You might think of Lucia as the embodiment of your dreams, your aspirations – she is your most important thing. Unfortunately, before you can reach her an army of stormtroopers open fire. We all know how a hero resolves this dilemma. The secret to mastering your time is to systematically focus on importanceand suppress urgency. {*style:<ul>*}{*style:<li>*}{*style:<b>*}Schedule your priorities.
10 Jobs That No Longer Exist Plenty of jobs exist today that didn’t exist 10, 20 or 30 years ago – social media analyst, app developer, etc. – but we’re not exactly awash in jobs, either. So what happened to all of those old jobs? This list of pictures will go over a few jobs that have gone the way of the dinosaur. The disappearance of the majority of these jobs can simply be attributed to technological advances. While the world’s hordes of unemployed students may disagree, it’s probably a good thing that most of these jobs are gone. Update: The Milkman still exists, so it was removed from the article. 1. Image credits: shorpy.com Bowling alley pinsetters were young boys employed at bowling alleys to set up the pins for clients. 2. Image credits: laboiteverte.fr Image credits: imgur.com Knocker-uppers were essentially alarm clocks – they were hired to ensure that people would wake up on time for their own jobs. 3. Image credits: sharenator.com 4. Image credits: retronaut.com 5. Image credits: retronaut.com 6. 7. 8. 9.
Social scientists build case for 'survival of the kindest' -- ScienceDaily Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, are challenging long-held beliefs that human beings are wired to be selfish. In a wide range of studies, social scientists are amassing a growing body of evidence to show we are evolving to become more compassionate and collaborative in our quest to survive and thrive. In contrast to "every man for himself" interpretations of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, Dacher Keltner, a UC Berkeley psychologist and author of "Born to be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life," and his fellow social scientists are building the case that humans are successful as a species precisely because of our nurturing, altruistic and compassionate traits. They call it "survival of the kindest." "Because of our very vulnerable offspring, the fundamental task for human survival and gene replication is to take care of others," said Keltner, co-director of UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center. Empathy in our genes
Raghuram Rajan | Why India slowed Updated: Tue, Apr 30 2013. 11 47 PM IST For a country as poor as India, growth should be what the US calls a “no-brainer”. It is largely a matter of providing public goods: decent governance, security of life and property, and basic infrastructure such as roads, bridges, ports, and power plants, as well as access to education and basic healthcare. Unlike many equally poor countries, India already has a strong entrepreneurial class, a reasonably large and well-educated middle class, and a number of world-class corporations that can be enlisted in the effort to provide these public goods. Why, then, has India’s gross domestic product growth slowed so much, from nearly 10% year-on-year in 2010-11 to 5% today? I believe that it was not, and that two important factors have come into play in the last two years. First, India probably was not fully prepared for its rapid growth in the years before the global financial crisis. A similar story played out elsewhere.
Strategies Quick Learners Use To Pick Up Anything 13 Ways to Pass the Squeeze Test The people you serve evaluate you like a person buying bread. Do you pass the “squeeze test?” Ever have a bad boss who didn’t realize how bad they were? What if complaints about you are partially right? Experience suggests you may not realize you are a stale, lousy leader. Really lousy leaders don’t know how lousy they are. Lousy leaders: Walk around with their nose in the air and their hands in their pockets.Don’t show-up until something goes wrong.Think problems are somebody else’s.Blab on and on.Keep others on the hook but, let themselves off.Blow up when their ideas are questioned or challenged.Hide behind policy and procedure. 13 qualities of leaders we admire: Always seek the highest good. Bonus: Know they’re on both lists. What positive qualities are most important? What positive behaviors do you aspire to? Like this: Like Loading...