We make decisions all the time—both minor (what brand of milk should I buy?) to major (which strategy will give us the biggest ROI?). If we want better outcomes from our decisions, we could use a tool to help us first narrow down our options. And we could clearly identify when there is only one viable path forward so we don’t waste time chasing dead ends.
Identity matters—it’s not something to be hidden away or left at the door when you arrive at work.
It used to be (and unfortunately still is in many organizations) that when you come to work, your job description and duties were the only things that mattered. Personal business never belonged at work. You left practically all of your identity at the door—your queerness, blackness, femaleness, kids, religion, all the things besides your job skills that make you a whole person. Work and home were never to mix.
But what if we reverse that mindset as leaders and instead, welcome the mix?
Organizations are generally more culturally aware today than they were even a year ago. Or, at least, more leaders are aware that they need to be more culturally aware. Cultural competence and cultural humility are terms which have started to come up regularly in our professional conversations. Are we moving in the right direction?
What do we mean when we talk about cultural competence vs cultural humility? What are the differences between them and why do they matter for successful leadership? Finally, how can we put them into practice so that they benefit our leaders, team members and organizations?
This year we’ve seen powerful movements for social justice. Many brands have jumped on those bandwagons only to fall off (or get pushed off). One reason social justice messages aren’t landing well with organizations’ audiences is a perceived lack of authenticity on the part of the brand. If your organization isn’t solidly walking their talk, it’s time to think about shifting your mindset from looking good to doing good.
From speeches to debates to emails to old-fashioned door-to-door canvassing—everything in a political campaign is designed to figure out how to get people to do things. Not just actual voting; it’s also about donating, volunteering and talking to your friends and family on the candidates’ behalf. This effort to influence behavior is very complementary to leadership.
I got a big, in-person lesson in all of this during this year’s election. For the first time, I volunteered for a campaign and went door-to-door to get out the vote. I learned so much about what it is that campaigns do to influence actions and change behavior and what we can learn from it.
In any growing organization, it’s important for team leaders to be visible. On the surface, this serves a practical purpose: the CEO simply can’t be the provider of and answer for all things, so team leaders can help fill that gap.
More importantly, coaxing team leads into more visible leadership fosters stronger communication, engagement, culture and purpose throughout the organization. And it sets up the leadership team to take on a bigger role and, ultimately, grow beyond the organization.
Your mindsets are one of the most important enablers of your success as a leader—and they can be hard to shift because according to my colleague, Ryan Gottfredson, they are the lenses through which you view your team members, your organization, outside events – everything. Just like a pair of glasses, most of the time you aren’t even aware they are there.
As a leader, your mindsets impact how receptive you are to considering new information that contradicts your current understanding. How you handle that will in turn affect your decision making. It makes the difference between you drawing more reality-based vs. ego-based conclusions.
Everything looks and feels different with offices running remotely, and no one can really predict when or if we’ll return to our regular desks.
The biggest challenge isn’t productivity, as many executives feared. Instead, it’s presence. We simply cannot be present online like we can in person.
And sometimes, that means you have to work a little harder at it.
Are you a visionary leader or are you spending too much time leading execution? Both matter, and there is a big difference between them.
No matter what level of leader you are in your organization, executing on a vision is only one part of your job. The problem is, too many leaders get stuck there because execution is familiar terrain where they’ve excelled in the past.
Change is inevitable. Whether you are a leader or a company, growth is a much needed element–not only for survival, but for success and future growth. You may be familiar with SJ Leadership Coach’s dedication to helping people become leaders, and while the mission and the work haven’t changed, the company’s name has. Introducing Kadabra. Yes, you guessed it, the company rebranded.
With our merger with NextGen Orgs, it was the perfect time to rebrand and move forward as a new, different and combined organization. Kadabra doesn’t belong to just one person; it’s entirely new. It belongs to us.