One of the favorite classes I teach is on giving feedback. It’s an art. And it’s a science, whose inner laws were taught me by my friend and mentor Mary Ann Hastings. I keep learning to “paint” with the feedback brush and to refine my understanding of the scientific laws of feedback. Last week I … Continued
A “Reading for Leading” reader — I’ll call her Ann — pushed back in a private email to me. She wrote these two paragraphs: In a future newsletter, you may want to distinguish between rules to be broken and those that should be honored. To me, the first are ones imposed without consent (English taxes … Continued
I asked my students this question: “How many times were you told to take a risk or break a rule by a teacher in a classroom?” “Call it out,” I said, and I cupped my hand behind my ear and looked down to concentrate on the answers. I heard, “0,0,1,0,0,never,once,twice,zero,zero,never,once or twice.” “Isn’t that amazing?” … Continued
At the end I share 5 quick things to do to make your workplace more democratic. But, first, are you sold on it? And does your organization need it? Do people still not get the power of a democratic workplace? I arrived early for my speech to a chapter of the National Human Resources Association. … Continued
Last week I started teaching my undergraduate leadership course. I gave all the students a blue 3×5 index card and a gold one. “Write a blue card if something made you feel the blues in here,” I told them, “and a gold if something made you feel golden.” Over the course of seven semesters one message … Continued
In 1985 When Ron Heifetz taught me about “systems thinking,” I realized that leaders have a scary power to inadvertently use group power to ignore, blame or even punish victims, and marginalize the most outspoken for raising difficult issues — issues which the group could benefit greatly from addressing. I thought: As a leader I … Continued
Someone once told me: The two most important words in the English language are “after you.” Can we reconcile this lovely thought with our rigid notion of “the leader,” a word and concept, which quite literally describes the one in front? Yes! Because in great leadership we follow others, as is appropriate to the situation. … Continued
I tell students that my class should be the best class they take at Berkeley. I know. Sounds arrogant. But I quickly explain the two reasons why. First, “the topic is YOU,” I tell them – “your leadership – and what’s more interesting than YOU?” Second, I say that it’s not about me, but about … Continued
Yesterday we remembered all those who “made the ultimate sacrifice” in service to country. Especially since 911, we get all gushy. We should. We are blessed to live in this great country and blessed by those who have had to fight when the country seemed threatened. Standing in dizzyingly sharp contrast to our immaculate patriotism … Continued
Shouldn’t every college graduate take a course in managing and coaching people? I know my wife and I with our fancy-shmancy bachelors AND graduate degrees never received formal training. Instead, we learned like so many people, on the job. Most of that was by osmosis from mostly average experiences. No slight is intended, as few … Continued