Why They Misunderstood What You Said!

Before reading this post, please bring to mind an important partnership, and one where you have stumbled in communication and/or currently have something you’ve been holding back, out of concern it won’t be heard well. What would you like to share with the other?  “Open communication” is the most frequently cited driver of great pairs. … Continued

Mastering Open Communication in your important dyads

  This week, I invite you to walk through an exercise in Leading by Two.  1. Recognize your partners: With whom are you Leading by Two? My partners and I have become quite clear that “Leading by Two” (LX2) describes not only a what – a relationship with a single essential partner – but it … Continued

A Radical Common Sense Way to Hit Your Goals

Maybe you have 2022 goals. Yay. Maybe you don’t. No big deal. In both cases, you may have trepidation. Self-doubt and some past disappointments with goal-setting may cause you to seriously doubt if you’ll hit your goals (or even stay after them), and you think:  So why set myself up for disappointment? But what if … Continued

Challenge to Authority – Authority Responds

Last week, I wrote about Dolores the PhD science student, and the power that her tenured leadership lab researcher had over her teaching assignments, research and future career. Dolores spoke (her) truth to his power. I promised that I’d share the sequel. If you consider times when you perhaps challenged authority, you might anticipate that … Continued

You as American political leader

warning: this one’s passionate, fact-based, but a bit long 🙁 Everyday Leadership definitionally asserts: everyone can lead. In our representative democracy, this is a tautology: citizens not kings are leaders. One of the complaints I hear a lot is that elected leaders are more like elected . . . followers, “with their finger in the … Continued

Can We Come Out Now?

Has the smoke cleared? Are the hurricanes gone?Has the virus stopped spreading?Could we be on the eve of the “peaceful transition [or continuation] of power?”As kids playing hide-and-seek, and as Londoners asked after German air raids:  “Can we come out now?”    2020 has been the year of primal fear. And the year in which so … Continued

A Simple Strategy for the Courageous Manager

First, the backstory. I had back-to-back meetings last week with a client I’ve been consulting to and another I’m coaching. On a group Zoom call, a team member was about 8 minutes late. The firm’s culture is friendly, respectful and transparent, so it wasn’t a big deal for him to say that his 2-year-old had … Continued

Cohabiting-by-2 During Covid-19

It’s a painful irony that we share both our deepest and ennobling love, yet also reserve our worst behavior for those who are closest to us. And “closest” these days takes on a new and literal meaning. When his 97 year-old father fell sick after exposure to Covid-19 and was left alone by his regular … Continued

What’s their reaction behind your back?

Dan has been writing Read2Lead weekly since March 1, 2000. Twenty years! A new era of Read2Lead begins today, with Dan’s partner Laura Andersen, weighing in. She will now periodically contribute, as they lead by two! The topic is right on point. In a recent post, Dan described his experience speaking to students as their … Continued

Lead the Leader – a crazy experiment

When I say “leader,” you likely see a speaker. You likely see someone separated from the crowd, perhaps facing them.  That was me in my lecture last week to 80 non-MBA graduate school students. But add a couple elements to the picture. Before I began speaking, I asked for a couple volunteers to take careful … Continued

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