Friends, Almost every leader’s biggest challenge is unleashing initiative. If it’s not getting people to initiate and generate, then it’s getting people to initiate work with others. Parents, bosses, presidents, principals? They’re all trying to light fires and increase people’s capacity to work together and work out problems. What’s THE biggest obstacle to people … Continued
Ivana, a former law student of mine, gave me this week’s “Reading for Leading story,” while we were having a drink to celebrate numerous goals that she had recently completed. She told me how another student approached her and asked why she always has a smile on her face. She told him, “I believe Happiness … Continued
I led a workshop last week in San Francisco for the Institute for Management Studies, and I was reminded again about how bosses can make their people miserable. This is about how not to do that! Among the 40 or so participants there were about six ghosts, managers the participants had left behind at their workplaces, … Continued
If you think about your own leadership — the passion you have for something important — I wonder if you might find this line from author and minister Michael Beckwith rings true: “Pain pushes until vision pulls.” I know from my own life that my pains, discomforts and losses became fuel — knowingly and sometimes … Continued
At Berkeley, as on so many campuses, and in offices, in the NFL, in churches, we’ve been struggling with disturbing cases of sexual harassment. As with the Black Lives Matter case, we’re confronted with damning evidence that just had not been fully seen, accepted and acted upon. My public policy grad students were assessing this … Continued
If you haven’t seen them, go! I hate it when people spoil movies by telling me a lot, so I won’t do that here. I’ll just tell you what you’ve seen in previews, or what will not take away from the core story. Straight Outta Compton. I wrote a post years ago and included it … Continued
Often in leadership, and especially where there are two people involved, positions harden. It may happen that you have increasingly adverse positions with: Your boss on strategy or personnel Your spouse on child-rearing Your child on behavior and values It can take a lot of energy, as you repeat the disagreements, and never quite resolve … Continued
True story: Two people compete for an open supervisor position. A gets it and now supervises B. Supervisor A immediately makes worker B come in for multiple, successive Saturdays to train A on technical skills that the new boss is lacking. While at the Saturday trainings, A might say, “sorry I have to take this … Continued
On Sunday, Jennifer and I watched the last of our three children cross the high school stage. Being a parent is the quintessential form of hierachical leadership. No new employee comes to work, no student enters a classroom, as full of promise and as completely dependent as a baby enters a family. In a world that … Continued
Reading for Leading works for me every Sunday, and hopefully for you on many Mondays (or whenever) because it causes me (and you?) to STOP. One of the major images we have of leaders is that they well, LEAD. Literally, they are at the front. Or, they’re in the back, yelling, “You, go there. You, go … Continued