Conflict is a natural element of organizational life.  How we deal with it defines us as leaders.  As an aspiring leader, you must learn how to recognize and deal with conflict as soon as it emerges.  Some leadership experts will argue that conflict is good for an organization.  Dr. Dave says, hold on - not all conflict is healthy.  Dave talks about the difference between healthy and unhealthy conflict and how to deal with both types of conflict.

In this episode, Dr. Dave grapples with that age-old question; can leadership be taught?  Listen for Dave's unique perspective on this question that leaders have discussed and debated over the years.

This is a short but critical podcast about trust that I recorded for another channel.  It is probably the most important issue in the entire domain of leadership and management.

In this episode of Positive Leadership, Dr. Dave calls out  managers who are overly reliant on managing processes to accomplish tasks in their organizations.  Dave talks about some very robust and well-known studies conducted by Dr. Jim Collins in over 100 companies in many different US industries that show leadership factors play the most significant role in the success of the best companies, not an over-reliance on processes.  Dr. Dave also draws on a personal, real-life example to bring out the importance of authentic leadership over just managing processes.  An over-reliance on the managing of processes will lead to a mediocre organization - it's leading people that inspires greatness.

If you want to achieve greatness in live, especially as a leader, you have to dig deep and find internal motivation to drive yourself to do great things.  Dr. Dave talks about how to 'Find your Mojo.'

In this episode, Dr. Dave talks about how critical it is for a leader to learn how to delegate effectively.  Once you step into a leadership role, you are no longer responsible for directly performing tasks - they have now been turned over to your subordinates.  If you can't learn to trust your team and delegate your tasks to them, you'll find your leadership or management career will quickly flame out.

Dr. Dave talks about the importance of leading non-profit organizations and the unique challenges they provide that a leader won't find in professional organizational life.  It's a vital podcast for any leader who wants to navigate a leadership role in any non-profit or NGO.  I want to thank some medical interns at the University of Houston who are in non-profit leadership roles for inspiring me to create and post this podcast.

In this episode, Dr. Dave talks about the importance of being transparent in all of your corporate or organizational communications.  Your people are smarter than you think, and they will find ways to find out about issues within the organization - either directly from the leadership, or through the rumor mill, which is usually far worse.  If you have to share bad news, try and do it in the best possible light, but it is always better to be open, honest, and direct with your workforce.  If you want your workforce to operate on all cylinders, transparent communications throughout the organization is a must!

In this episode, Dr. Dave shares his earliest leadership experience where he learned how important it was to have respect from your team when you assume a leadership role.  Once you become a leader, you need to be prepared to 'walk a lonely road' sometimes.  Leadership requires your team to respect your leadership role; they may not like some of your hard decisions, but if they respect you, they will still follow you. 

In this episode, Dr. Dave talks about how critical mentoring is for good leadership and how mentoring differs from coaching, as coaches are teachers, but mentors lead their proteges down the path of self-discovery.  Being a good mentor is an important part of being a positive leader.