Trust Beats Brains
A recent study showed only 52% of people trust their boss. For a leader, trust works two ways:
1. You need to be trusted so people will choose to follow you.
2. You need to be able to trust people you choose to work with.
For a leader to be trusted she or he must …
Leadership Checklist
Kylie Wright-Ford and I researched what good leaders are like for our book, The Leadership Mind Switch (McGraw-Hill, 2017). Through observing hundreds of outstanding leaders, we learned that they generally tend to be more:
» Personally accountable » Informed and curious about the wider world » Committed to both their job and the job of…
Some People Like to Fail
The shocking, surprising, and sad fact is that few people do have fire in their belly from passion and curiosity. There are many reasons why:
They don’t want the stress of success.
They are comfortable where they are, and they don’t want to change their work, geographic location, colleagues, or much of anything else.
They …
Speak Up to Be Heard
When it is time for you to talk, make yourself effortless to be heard and easy to listen to. Eliminate from your speaking useless filler words that make you sound uncertain, unprepared, even uneducated: “you know… uhm… huh… ah… okay, okay…” At the very least, if you must say them, say them silently to yourself …
Look ’Em in the Eye or Anywhere Else About the Head
Eyes are powerful in communicating; no other body parts communicate quite the same. The quickest way to look uninterested, distracted, inattentive, or dishonest is to not meet the other person’s eyes or even face.
Though most of us are taught to look people in the eye when speaking with them, few do it. People will …
Wear an Open, Easygoing Facial Expression
You can be taken seriously even if you indiscriminately smile out loud.
This is all about your “game face.” Keep an awake, alert, alive look that invites people to talk to you. Why? Because you need people to talk to you with suggestions, problems, advice, watch-outs, issues, mistakes, concerns, opportunities, fears, and frustrations. If they …
People Are Watching and Drawing Conclusions About You All of the Time
It seems incongruous in this digital age to write about the value of a person’s physicality since so much interaction is online, but it’s precisely that reason why it’s extra important now. You have infrequent face-to-face contact with colleagues, your network of connections, even your bosses, so when it does happen, you need to make …
Positive Risks Payoff Big Time
There is a saying among old cowboys out West: “One man with courage is the majority.”
When I write about courage, intestinal fortitude, guts, and boldness to differentiate yourself, it’s not to encourage you to do stupid, risky things. I’m not looking for the daredevil mentality that causes you to rappel off the Brooklyn Bridge …
Plan for Setbacks — It’s Your Job
In reality, a job is a to-do list and game plan interrupted by problems. Few days unfold trouble free. A phone message or e-mail brings an unplanned-for, unanticipated crisis. While dealing with that issue, another message or a colleague comes in with another new dilemma. It goes on incessantly throughout the day and into the …
Some People Like to Fail
The shocking, surprising, and sad fact is that few people do have fire in their belly from passion and curiosity. There are many reasons why:
They don’t want the stress of success.
They are comfortable where they are, and they don’t want to change their work, geographic location, colleagues, or much of anything else.
They …