Since I wrote last week, Scary Season has gotten even scarier, with the fires and horrific air quality in the Bay Area. Today, one impactful idea, based on one of Stephen Covey’s best lessons from his timeless classic 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey’s first habit is “be proactive.” Within it, he illustrates it: … Continued
I used to think of this 60-day lead-up to the election as Silly Season. Now it feels like Scary Season. In the coming series of Read2Lead blogs we will offer ideas and practices to lead through the fear. We need leaders – you, leading with your best self – now more than ever. Systems are … Continued
By Laura Andersen It is way too easy now. A meeting gets put on your calendar about a project. No preparation instructions, no asks in advance, no provided purpose. You’re lukewarm on the project, not fully convinced of its merits yet. But everyone can see that your calendar is blank at that time. So, you … Continued
Heifetz would drive people crazy, when… He would p-a-u-s-e Uncomfortably L O N G 1…..2…..3 seconds. You could almost hear the students’ collective unconscious crying out, “for God’s sakes, man, teach!” I’m speaking of Ronald Heifetz, the King Hussein bin Talal Senior Lecturer in Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, whose content … Continued
I have asked Ashton Fandel to write this week. She contributes to our team with great insight. She’s currently the head reader for a Berkeley Haas leadership course, where she gives amazing counsel to aspiring Berkeley undergrads. I know she’d appreciate your constructive comments! “Class, what are the ‘Two Evil Twins of Self-Defense?” my … Continued
Gentle leadership. It’s not an oxymoron. Nor is this a contradiction in terms: self leadership. So, today a simple musing after these two facts. 1. When you are stressed and stretched, it is nearly impossible to “lead with your best self.” 2. In this time of severe dislocation, fear, and challenge, everyone I know is … Continued
Last week, I wrote about how in-your-face Covid has been for all of us. Not equally, of course. Some of your families may be right now threatened by the disease itself. Yet it confronts us all. Last week, I invited you to hear Anne Zehren our Thursday resilience speaker. Anne has dealt for a decade … Continued
The exhausting challenge. The amazing opportunity. Resilience . . . Plus . . . At no time in my 60 years of life in America, has our collective life so totally invaded my, and our, private existence. The events, threats, and responses to Covid strike at our individual identity, our “who I am.” We are … Continued
Recently, I had the honor of interviewing a friend of mine, Niket Desai, for a leadership course at Berkeley. I invited him to speak on what can be a mundane topic – objectives and key results, or one common format of organizational goal setting – because of his particular focus within it: deep reverence … Continued
I was old enough to experience the civil rights movement in the 60s and can’t help but wonder: What’s different? And: How important is the difference? One of the answers to the first question is that white people like me are increasingly willing to really listen to Black Voices, not interpreting everything, not telling Black movement … Continued