Machiavelli’s The Prince is an insightful piece meant to demonstrate the fragility of power. In that, Machiavelli provides a slew of qualities of both evil and great leaders. However, several stand out as essential for all great leaders to understand. Furthermore, such perspectives can be used in various settings after even a little critical reflection.…
As a leadership academic and professional, I have always been fascinated with what makes or breaks leaders. Bias specifically intrigues me. This is because, in 2013, I read an article by Carolyn Y. Johnson titled Everyone is biased: Harvard professor’s work reveals we barely know our own minds (Johnson, 2013). This article was an interview…
If you’re in sales, then you might want to consider the following. When talking to a customer, we often use the word “WE” when selling the product’s or service’s benefits. This is a powerful word and conveys a team standing behind whatever we are selling. As a result, the customer feels a bit more confident…
Are you serious about your leadership abilities and skills? Looking for some great leadership books to gain insight or improve? Well, if you are going to spend your time and money reading about leadership, then choose wisely. Consuming inaccurate information will undoubtedly result in a flawed or less-than-awesome outcome. Don’t risk it! I am often…
The Senior Manager says: “What if we train and develop our people, and then they leave us?” The CEO says: “What if we don’t train them, and they stay?“ No doubt you have seen this meme circulating in recent years. It’s true, though. It’s also very insightful. Think about the mindset of an organization that…
Validation Exchange: Validation Exchange can be an amazing tool for communication, goal traction, engagement, performance management, quality control, and relationship/team building (among others). An Example of Validation Exchange in Play: A leader asks a worker to put together a report on (X, Y, and Z) and have that report available before the end of the…
Organizational Development is a complex endeavor, even for the smallest organizations. This is because there is much to consider as the organization grows and because new perspectives and considerations arise with each new change. Ultimately, there are several specific strengths and weaknesses that I feel an organization should be on the lookout for. The following…
Have you ever heard someone say something along the lines of “I wish we could get a decent leader in office,” “All politicians are crooks,” or even “If I were in office, things would be different”? Many of us have found an issue with various local or state laws, taxation, or other issues that continue…
Executives continually rank leadership development as a top priority. Unfortunately, there is no doubt that many leadership development programs out there simply fail in their promise of actually developing leaders. So what’s really going on? The sad truth is that too many programs only focus on leadership theory alone and usually only in an organizational…
The GrassFire Proposal Model (GF Proposal Model) is a suggestion that I provide to my students regarding organizational communication, problem identification and evaluation, and resolution exploration. Follow your organization’s formatting expectations and norms regarding layout. Step 1: Provide your proposal to leadership in a typed format. This is to ensure professionalism, legibility, and conciseness. Additionally,…
