Upsize Your Leadership

For twenty years I've been observing an intriguing phenomenon: promising, high-potential managers whose careers seem to top out prematurely.

There's no apparent scandal to blame as the culprit. No wholesale failure of a pivotal assignment. No costly mistake as a result of their misjudgments. They simply quit moving up. Or worse still, they are asked to move out.

As a leadership and executive coach, I've often been engaged to work with managers who are in this very situation, or soon may be. Sometimes it's the manager who reaches out to me to explore possible causes for a plateaued career. More often it's a company that contacts me, asking for my help in rescuing the flagging career of a high-promise worker.

After dozens of engagements like this, I came to see that many of these clients already had the personality and the requisite skills to continue their upward climb. But they had plateaued because of factors having little to do with their likability or skill set.

In this episode I look at five of the more common factors which I've encountered that are quietly sabotaging careers. I think of them as "silent killers," because they rarely call attention to themselves. Yet they are choking off what could be a stellar career. As I examine these career-killing villains, ask whether you're taking adequate precautions against them.

For a PDF copy of today's episode, follow the link to download transcripts at https://www.leaderperfect.com/podcast.

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Leadership is about recognizing the potential in people and situations, then bringing that potential to fruition.

For that reason, serious leaders find it disconcerting when they have a worker or volunteer who shows great promise, but seems content with mediocre performance.

When we encounter people like this, it's easy to say that they are not motivated. Which may be the case. But not necessarily. lack of motivation is only one of several possibilities.

In this episode I look at four issues which result in people performing at a substandard level. I offer a simple template for identifying which of these issues is likely the root of the problem. Each issue calls for a unique leadership solution.

Motivation may indeed be the problem. But an even deeper problem may lie elsewhere. This template helps you decipher the real issue.

A PDF transcript of this program is available at https://www.leaderperfect.com/podcast/episodes.

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Great transformative movements in history have always arisen from a grand new vision of what the future should look like. Think of the American Revolution or the development of the internet as striking examples.

Yet, behind every new vision for the future is a reframing of how we remember the past. Our memory of the past is always selective. It highlights certain things that happened, but marginalizes or ignores others.

This very process of selection colors how we think of our past and what it portends for our future. This is as true of organizations as it is of individuals. Great leaders have always motivated people to pursue a new future by offering a new view of the past. And they do this by calling attention to overlooked aspects of the past which can be capitalized on to build a desirable future.

For instance, turnaround leaders in troubled organizations utilize this technique routinely. They inherit a situation in which people feel anxious about the future, discouraged about their prospects, or doubtful of their own capability. The leader confronts this situation by reframing how people view their past. The leader underscores helps people see elements of the past and present on which to build a new sense of promise and hope.

In this episode I offer some striking examples of how this technique works. As leaders, we are all charged with painting an attractive vision for the future. That process often begins by sketching a new view of the past.

A PDF copy of this episode is available for download at https://www.leaderperfect.com/podcast.

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In today's world, organizations presume that managers will also be team leaders. Strong teams are essential in an era when both for-profit companies and non-profits operate in highly complex contexts.

Countless studies have examined the personal traits of effective team leaders. On the internet you can find lists with as many as 30 attributes which characterize great team leadership. Some are obviously more vital than others.

After decades of leading teams, building teams, and coaching others to do the same, I've identified the ten hallmarks which I personally believe are the most essential traits of superb team leadership. I share these ten in this episode. And I also identify the one leadership characteristic which I consider most critical of all.

A PDF copy of this episode is available for download at https://www.leaderperfect.com/podcast.

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Leadership is about pointing people to a more promising tomorrow. At its best it instills hope and unshakeable confidence in the people it leads. To do so, however, leaders must be men and women who themselves embody and exemplify optimism. People may be influenced by pessimists. But they are never inspired to follow them.

Pessimism comes easily. Our brains are hyper-attuned to anticipate and recognize threats. That makes us susceptible to fears, anxieties, and foreboding views of the future. Left unchecked, such states of mind easily lead to pessimism.

Yet, I'm persuaded that people prefer to live in hope, to live with confidence that things will be better tomorrow. And they turn to leaders to provide them such assurance. For this reason, leaders must see themselves as guardians of optimism, first in themselves, then in their people.

In this podcast I build the case for optimism as a way of life. I look at the backdrop of uncertainty and unrest which permeates American life today. And I highlight the role that optimistic leaders will play in ushering us out of this predicament into a future filled with promise.

A printed transcript of this episode may be downloaded at https://www.leaderperfect.com/podcast/episodes/2017-guardians-of-optimism.htm.

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The Greek philosopher Aristotle famously advised, "First, know thyself." That adage serves anyone well. But it is particularly relevant to leadership. Leaders should know themselves, first and foremost.

The most important mentor in my life understood that well. He repeatedly told me, "We all have a flat side on our wheel somewhere. The sooner we can identify that flat side and build systems and people around us to compensate for it, the sooner we will be successful and the greater our success will be."

This episode guides you through a process of identifying the flat side on your wheel. And it explains why knowing yourself is essential to effective team-building -- and in truth, to leadership in any arena.

For a PDF copy of this episode, go to https://www.leaderperfect.com/podcast. Simply click on the link to download scripts.

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It’s fashionable today for managers to refer to their employees as their team, whether the group actually functions as a team or not. That’s unfortunate. It blurs what makes authentic teamwork distinctive. It cheapens the meaning of “team.”

As a result, many so-called teams are not really teams, at all. They are simply a collection of individual contributors who happen to work together. They are what we might call workmates or shipmates or officemates. But they are not truly teammates.

True teams – especially exceptional teams – embody certain traits and characteristics. These qualities are always evident, whether you’re speaking of a sports team, a research team, a self-directed work team, a special forces team, a management team – any kind of team which genuinely deserves the name.

In this episode we look at eleven of these essential traits. How many of them are characteristic of the team which you lead or teams on which you serve?

For a printed copy of today's podcast, go to https://www.leaderperfect.com/podcast and click on the link to download scripts.

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There is hardly a business in America which has not been adversely impacted by the corona virus pandemic. Yet many are learning how to thrive, even while their employees are working remotely for the first time ever.

In this episode Daniel Ramsey shares lessons which he has learned from many of these business leaders who have chosen to tackle the challenges of the COVID-19 shutdown with a CEO's mindset. They are mastering the art of leading teams in a virtual environment, a skill which they never expected to need.

Not only does Daniel relate the lessons which they have learned, he also relates what he has learned as he manages his own team remotely. Toward the end of the episode he offers my listeners a free book entitled Scaling Your Business with Virtual Professionals. To obtain your copy, send a text message to 31996 and include the code: "SVP" in the message.

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One of the weightiest questions in the study of history is how to judge leaders from the past. Not in terms of their military, political, or other achievements. But in terms of their character and morality.

Should their behavior be measured by our standards today? Or should they only be accountable to the standards of their own era?

Recently mob action has toppled several statues of renowned American leaders. The rationale for this action is tha the statue depicted a person who was guilty of grave immoral behavior, at least by today's societal norms, morals, and mores.

But what consequences ensue if we use that standard to determine which leaders from the past we respect and which ones we treat dismissively. The fact is, all leaders are flawed. They are, after all, human. In that regard, they are like the rest of us.

Great leaders, however, are men and women who, though flawed like the rest of us, had exceptional traits which set them apart from the crowd. And we can recognize those things which were exceptional about them without condoning the things which they did amiss. To do otherwise sets in motion a process which little-by-little robs us of the heroes whose example inspires us to press beyond the crowd ourselves.

You can obtain a PDF copy of this episode by following the link to download scripts at https://www.leaderperfect.com/podcast.

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Whether you lead a company, a non-profit, an institution, or a government agency, people join your organization and remain committed to it for one of seven reasons. And for the most part, money and benefits have little to do with it.

Instead, one of seven intrinsic benefits exerts a gravitational pull on those who choose to become part of your team or organization. This benefit -- what I call a motivational connection -- is the force which draws someone to become part of the group which you lead or manage.

So long as this benefit remains vibrant, people remain committed. However, if the benefit dwindles or disappears, their commitment evaporates, as well. This episode examines each of these seven intrinsic benefits individually and offers real-life examples of the impact they have on motivation, morale, and engagement.

For a PDF transcript of this episode, follow the link to download scripts at https://www.leaderperfect.com/podcast.

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